


The Court of Ravens

by SlimeQueen



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Dragons, Fantasy, Friends With Benefits, Historical, M/M, Magic, Pining, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-05-13 13:01:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 41,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14749358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlimeQueen/pseuds/SlimeQueen
Summary: Johnny has been hopelessly in love with Ten for the better part of three years but Ten sees him as nothing more than a friend and adamantly refuses to fall in love. Then one morning, Johnny finds himself in a strange new world, where wings sprout from his back, magic is an everyday occurrence, and Ten is the mysterious Dragon Prince, set to marry him in two days.There is a fine line between reality and dream, and Johnny doesn’t know where he stands anymore.





	1. Temporary Fix

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is my actual precious baby so i hope you enjoy it <3  
> (Please don't repost my work anywhere without my permission!)

_The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you._

_Don't go back to sleep._

_You must ask for what you really want._

_Don't go back to sleep._

_People are going back and forth across the doorsill_

_where the two worlds touch._

_The door is round and open._

_Don't go back to sleep._

_-Rumi_

 

Johnny should know what to expect by now when Ten texts him in the middle of the night.

He’s still working on a research paper for a history class that’s not due until next week, but he’s fairly sure his brain’s fried because he’s written the words _regional hegemony_ three times in a row without noticing.

It’s just shy of two o’clock when Ten simply sends him, _I need you_.

It takes seconds for the blood to start flowing to Johnny’s brain again (and maybe some other body parts) and another minute for him to save the paper and close his laptop, pushing it onto his coffee table. Jaehyun’s long asleep, and the apartment’s too silent.

Ten texts him like this fairly often. They’re best friends after all, and Ten has rules, the most important of which is _never date anyone_. Instead, he has an endless cycle of boy toys he filters through one by one, dropping them and replacing them like they’re nothing. Ten picks up casual hook ups like they’re as abundant as grass in a field.

The thing he never anticipates is getting attached. Johnny knows Ten like the back of his hand, knows that he’s soft at heart. Of course, he doesn’t let his hook ups know that, but ultimately, when one of them decides to leave Ten for an actual relationship, Ten winds up back at Johnny’s apartment again, seeking validation between his sheets.

And Johnny falls for it. Again and again, he puts Ten back together when he’s vulnerable and broken, lets Ten crawl between his legs and find the affection he craves so badly. Not once does he say anything about the feelings that threaten to spill over at any given moment, the ones that go beyond platonic, that have been manifesting since their first year of university, when Ten had waltzed into Johnny’s life just to the left of drunk to the point of incoherency, movements fluid even in his inebriated state.

It had been some frat party. Johnny can barely remember anymore, but he remembers Ten winding up in his lap and stealing the snapback pulling his hair back, grinning crookedly, dark eyes shining. “You look like the kind of guy who needs more beer and a blowjob,” he’d said, and Johnny had snorted, pushed him off his lap, and he’d landed in a disgruntled pouty heap on the sticky frat house floor.

Ten bangs on the door loud enough to jerk Johnny out of his thoughts. He gets up hastily, tries to comb his hair with his fingers into some semblance of neatness. He pulls the door open and Ten’s standing in the hallway, shivering a little. No jacket, Johnny notes immediately.

He opens his mouth to speak, but Ten brushes past him, already midsentence. “-Can’t believe he’d say _I’m_ the one with commitment issues when he’s the one who can’t bear to kiss me unless we’re in the middle of fucking. Just because I don’t want to go on stupid dates and hold hands around campus it doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

Johnny shuts the door behind him silently, crosses his arms over his chest and waits until Ten’s done. He knows from experience that it can take a while.

“Besides, it’s not like I don’t know what his problem was. He’s definitely in love with his roommate, which is just a bad idea. Now he breaks up with me because I told him the truth? I _told_ him the first time that I wanted it no strings attached. Why are the hot ones always so dumb?”

Ten crosses the tiny apartment to Johnny’s door, lets himself in, waits for Johnny to walk in behind him and closes the door. “Anyways,” he continues, already shedding his shoes and socks, throwing them in the direction of the door. “He’s totally projecting his feelings onto me. There’s no way he actually likes me.”

His shirt comes off then, and he sighs, kicking off his jeans. “At least I have you,” Ten finishes with a tiny smile. Johnny forces himself to smile back, but it feels too tight on his face. Ten tips his head to the side curiously, says, “Why aren’t you naked yet?”

Johnny clears his throat, pulls his sweatshirt over his head. “What an idiot,” he adds, and Ten’s face relaxes.

Ten walks to Johnny’s bed, drops down on the mattress and kicks the messy sheets aside. “Everything is awful,” Ten mumbles, rubbing at his eyes. “Just come here and make it better for a little while.”

Because that’s all Johnny is to Ten. A temporary solution.

Johnny swallows down the thought before it can take hold fully. He strips down to his underwear, joins Ten on the bed.

It’s hard to hold back when Ten’s so open, so willing to let him do anything. Sometimes he wants to lay the younger boy out and kiss him all over, whisper “I love you” into every insecure, unsure curve and crease of his body.

Ten likes to pretend he’s all sharp edges and inability to catch emotions, but Johnny knows the truth of the matter. Ten’s too scared of falling because he thinks it will end in inevitable heartbreak, and so he avoids romance like the plague.

He figures Johnny’s safe territory because they’ve been friends for so long, but Johnny knows better. He’s been hopelessly in love with Ten for the past three years, and there’s not a thing he can do about it.

Ten reaches out for him as soon as he’s near enough, thin cold fingers wrapping around Johnny’s wrist to pull him down onto the bed. They’ve done this a hundred times; Johnny catching Ten’s cheek in his hand and tilting his face into long heady kisses, Ten pressing a palm between Johnny’s legs to tease him to full hardness.

They know each other’s bodies by now, and Ten knows exactly how to curl his other hand through Johnny’s hair and pull to make his cock twitch in his briefs, how to lick into his mouth to make Johnny moan against his lips. Ten’s too good at this. He’s practiced to perfection, lithe hips grinding down slow and dirty in Johnny’s lap, and Johnny catches his hips, flips him down onto the bed.

Ten blinks in surprise, but then Johnny’s kissing a slow path down his chest and his lips quirk into a grin, cupping Johnny’s cheek and smoothing a thumb over the smooth skin. “You’re a much better lay anyways,” he mumbles, the words ending in an uneven breath as Johnny bites one of his hip bones gently.

Ten sits up halfway, and Johnny’s eyes catch on a glint of metal. “New rings?” he asks, giving one of them a pull. The normal barbells through Ten’s nipples are gone, replaced with tiny hoops. Johnny remembers Ten getting them pierced a couple years ago, whining for weeks afterwards about how tender they’d felt, how much it had hurt whenever they’d brushed against his shirt.

Ten hisses, slaps his hand away. “Hurt putting them in,” he rasps, “I think I should have taken better care of them when they were healing.”

Ten’s full of metal, from the numerous hoops and studs and bars in his ears to his nipples to the little silver stud in his tongue that he likes to flash right before he sucks Johnny’s cock into his mouth.

There’s no doubt in his mind that Ten had taken meticulous care of them, even if he’s whining about doing it wrong now. Johnny presses a kiss over one, the metal cold over his lip, and he says, “There, now it’ll be okay.”

Ten stares at him with big dark eyes for a second before promptly bursting into giggles. “You’re a fucking nerd,” he says, eyes full of mirth. “But a nerd with soft lips. Do it again.”

Johnny narrows his eyes at him. “Just say you like it when I play with your nipples.”

“Never,” Ten’s smiling genuinely now, fondness shining in his expression, and Johnny hates how much he covets that look, how much he wants it just for himself.

“Then I’m not going to do it.”

Ten groans, hands falling to Johnny’s hair again to tangle into the strands, and he says, “At least keep going.”

“Ah,” Johnny says, “But you didn’t ask nicely.”

Ten doesn’t exactly do _nice_. He does demanding tugs of Johnny’s hair and pouty lips and whining when things don’t go his way.

But Ten’s upset right now, even if he’s not showing it. Breaking things off with Yukhei must have affected him more than he lets on, because he ducks his head down rather shyly and says in a soft voice, “Please play with my nipples, John, they’re so sore.”

Johnny bites back the strangled noise that rises up his throat and takes a deep steadying breath.

When he’s fairly sure he won’t combust at any given moment, he opens his eyes again, finds Ten staring at him with wide unfathomable eyes, mouth twisted with uncertainty. “Please,” he adds again for good measure.

Johnny uses his palm to push Ten back down flat against the bed, runs his fingers down the line of his chest, and Ten shivers at the feeling, back arching up off the sheets. His cock is already hard, straining against his underwear, and Johnny pushes the waistband down, takes a hold of it, and jerks him off dry a couple times.

Ten positively writhes under the feeling, fingers wrapping around Johnny’s forearm tight, nails digging stinging crescents into his skin, then splaying out like he doesn’t know where to put them. Johnny likes this part the most; working Ten up until he’s oversensitive and begging, Johnny’s name spilling from his mouth.

Johnny licks a broad stripe over his nipple, the ring catching cold and metallic on his tongue, and he takes it between his lips, tugging gently. Ten makes a noise like a sob, jerking under him, and he gasps, “Please, please, it hurts so fucking much,”

Johnny pulls away, his voice rough when he says, “Less or more?”

Ten cries, “I don’t _know_ , it just feels-feels too much,”

More, then. Johnny’s well versed in Ten’s incoherency by now. He licks across his palm, wraps it back around Ten’s cock, and Ten arches up into the slick warmth of his hand, his own fingers tightening their grip on Johnny’s arm.

Ten’s nipples are peaked against the hoops, hard when Johnny wraps his lips around one and flicks his tongue over it, and Ten’s breath comes shallow and uneven. They’re so much more sensitive after he’d gotten them pierced, and Johnny finds it unfairly hot, how much he writhes and moans whenever Johnny rubs his fingers over them.

Ten reaches over to the table beside the bed, pushes aside all of Johnny’s things and grabs the little squeeze tube of lubricant he has stashed there. His eyes fly over the label, and he grins, “Self-warming?”

“Shut up,” Johnny says, giving his dick an unnecessarily hard jerk, relishing in the way Ten gasps and slaps his wrist. “You haven’t even tried it yet.”

Ten rolls his eyes and crawls into Johnny’s lap, pressing the lube into his hand. “Do your worst,” he challenges.

Johnny rubs a slick finger over Ten’s entrance, and it clenches around the digit, velvety warmth twitching against the pad of his finger. Ten shudders against him, trying his best to grind his cock against Johnny’s stomach and simultaneously rock back against his fingers.

The angle’s going to make Johnny’s hand cramp up quickly, and Ten must realize it at the same time as him because he pushes Johnny flat against the bed.

Ten twists around, maneuvers his legs over Johnny’s hips and straddles him backwards, and Johnny strokes a hand down the long line of his back, feeling the ridges of bone and sinewy muscle under his palm. “Better?” Ten says, pulling his underwear down.

Johnny hums in response, but it turns into a groan midway when Ten blows cool air over the head of his dick. Ten’s head dips down, and then there’s a warm mouth wrapped around Johnny’s cock, and Johnny’s trying his best not to rolls his hips up into the languid slide of Ten’s tongue.

One of these days Johnny’s really going to rip Ten’s tongue out. The slow wet drag of it across the head of his cock, the slide of the smooth metal stud in it has Johnny’s legs shaking in no time, and he’s so focused on the way Ten’s mouth feels that he nearly forgets about the lube dripping off his fingers.

Ten pulls off his dick with a wet pop, twists his neck around to shoot a glare at him. “Are you going to finger me or not?”

“Chill,” Johnny mumbles, and pushes two rigid fingers into him at once. “I’m getting there.”

The muscles in Ten’s back go tense as Johnny crooks his fingers, the slick velvety warmth of his walls clamping down on Johnny’s fingers. Johnny’s done this enough times to know what angles drive Ten crazy, and he presses his fingers up into him just right, and it makes Ten moan, the sound muffled around Johnny’s cock.

Ten bobs his head down all the way, takes Johnny’s cock into his throat, his tongue pressed flat against the base of Johnny’s dick, the piercing putting pressure against the sensitive flesh, and Johnny’s breath catches in his throat, uneven and shuddery.

Johnny slides another finger inside, and Ten’s rim twitches around his knuckles, tight and flushed, and he pulls off Johnny’s dick again to cry, “Fuck, fuck fuck fuck, slow down.”

 “You can cum if you need to, baby.” Johnny reminds him gently and gives him a series of short hard thrusts that make his breath hitch over a sob.

“No, no no, not yet,” Ten gasps, hands scrabbling for purchase against the sheets. “Not until you’re inside me.”

Johnny’s dick twitches at the words. He takes a deep breath, slides his fingers out. Ten likes the burn of the stretch, and Johnny knows he can handle it. He grabs a condom from the bedside table and tries ripping it open, only for it to slip from his slick fingers.

Ten shakes his head in amusement, taking it from him and opening it himself. Johnny feels Ten’s slender hands around his cock as he rolls it on then strokes down the length of his dick when he’s done.

“Ride me,” Johnny says, hands finding their way to the flare of Ten’s hips.

Ten turns again, straddles his waist and braces his palms on Johnny’s chest. “Help me,” he says, “I’m all sore from dance today, I don’t think I can do all the work.”

Johnny guides his hips down slowly, and Ten whines, a long high-pitched noise as he sinks down on Johnny’s dick, his thighs shaking, lips bitten and swollen. Johnny bites the inside of his cheek hard to keep in the embarrassing noise threatening to spill from his own lips, arching up off the bed when Ten swivels his hips, rolls down against him slowly.

Ten’s lower lip is caught between his teeth, and he rolls his hips with perfect practiced precision, and all Johnny feels is heat and the squeeze of Ten’s body around his cock. Ten’s got a dancer’s body, all thick hips and thin waist, plush thighs that squeeze around Johnny’s hips as he builds up a careful rhythm, bouncing up and down on Johnny’s dick.

Johnny slides his feet up the bed until his knees press to Ten’s back, holding him up, and fucks up into him, meeting every roll of his hips. Ten cries out at the feeling, eyes falling shut, pink lips parting around the noise, and Johnny’s taken aback by how _pretty_ Ten always is.

Ten lets his head fall back, hands finding their way to Johnny’s bent knees, then to his thighs, and he whimpers, “Why are you always so fucking good to me? God, you feel so good, I’m- I’m gonna go crazy.”

Johnny asks himself the same thing sometimes. Why does he let Ten do this again and again when he knows it’s going to make him feel used and lonely afterwards? Why does he always let Ten in at the end of the day, knowing he’s never going to feel the same way?

He knows the answer, though. The moments he has Ten like this, perched on his lap like it’s his throne, dark eyes gleaming, his lovely voice lilting higher into cries of his name, Johnny finds himself falling even deeper into Ten’s thrall. He can’t get enough.

Ten grabs his wrists, pulls his hands off his hips and up to his chest again, and Johnny takes the hint, rubs his sore achy nipples between his fingers, and Ten makes a noise like a sob, arching into the touch. “So good, John,” he whimpers, “You’re so good to me, fuck, you’re so-“

Johnny lets out a shuddery moan, manages to say the words he’s been trying to find, “S’okay baby, touch yourself, come for me.”

Ten reaches down, jerks himself off messily into his hand, his thumb rubbing the slit in the head of his cock, and that mixed with the feeling of Johnny’s cock inside him has him coming, clenching down hard around Johnny’s dick, his thighs flexing and trembling.

Ten’s chest heaves unevenly, aftershocks sending little shivers running through him as he comes down from his high, and the sight of him so wrecked sends Johnny over the edge, his own orgasm making him arch under Ten’s body as the younger boy pushes down all the way, his ass pressing to Johnny’s hips, and he croons, “God, wish we hadn’t used a condom, I wanna feel you come inside me.”

Johnny’s breathless, and the words only make his spent cock twitch painfully, but he manages to say, “So I can get Yukhei’s herpes? No thanks.”

Ten slaps his chest pouting down at him. He slides off Johnny’s hips, and Johnny’s cock goes sliding out of him too quickly, making him wince delicately. “You’re just jealous I had a boytoy that hot,” Ten grumbles, pulling the condom off Johnny’s dick carefully.

“It’s okay, though,” Ten continues, tying it off and tossing it in the trash can, “No one fucks me as good as you.” He stops to grab the box of tissues on Johnny’s desk, wiping his hands of his own come, and then tosses it at Johnny so he can wipe the tiny bit that got on his stomach. Then he comes back to bed and curls up into Johnny’s side. They’re both sticky with sweat and Johnny knows it probably smells pretty strongly of sex in his room now, but Ten holds fast to his bicep, murmuring something in a little sweet voice and he can’t bring himself to move.

Ten presses a kiss to his cheek and murmurs, “Thank you for being there for me when I need you.”

By the time Johnny leans over and turns the light off, Ten’s asleep.

There are certain things Johnny wishes were his alone. The way Ten trembles under his palms when he runs them up his sides, the tiny quaking breaths he takes when Johnny fits his mouth over a dusky nipple and sucks, the way he arches up into Johnny’s body when he cums, fingers tangled in the sheets, pink mouth falling open into a helpless moan.

Johnny’s greedy for these sensations. He knows Ten’s not his to have, will never be his to have, but he can’t stop hoping.

The knowledge that so many others have had Ten vulnerable like this, have felt the way Ten’s body feels around his, it makes something unsettled in the bottom of his stomach. He pushes away the feeling, but it always comes back full force.

The blank ceiling is quickly becoming Johnny’s only companion. He feels used up and discarded, even if Ten’s halfway wrapped around him, his breath smooth and guileless. Johnny wishes he had that kind of conscience.

No- it’s not Ten’s fault. He’s made the rules very clear the first time they’d done this. It’s Johnny’s fault for falling, for pining for so long, for being helplessly in love with someone who is never going to return the feeling.

More than anything, Johnny wishes for simplicity. The feelings that tangle around his chest and choke him up are too complicated, the lines between platonic and romantic blurred whenever he thinks of Ten. It’s hard to think objectively when he’s head over heels, breathlessly in love. If only he could find a way out of this rabbit hole he’s been falling down for the past three years.

It takes a long time, but the darkness and the calming sound of Ten’s steady breathing lulls him to sleep.

-

Johnny wakes up to sunshine warming his body and the sound of birdsong in the air.

That strikes him as wrong immediately. His apartment with Jaehyun doesn’t get a lot of light in the morning and it’s in the middle of the city, where the only birds he’s seen are fat pigeons that couldn’t fly up to their fifth-floor apartment if they tried.

And then there’s the soft spikiness of grass brushing against his bare arms. Johnny’s eyes fly open and he sits up with a start.

It’s bright against his sleep-ridden eyes, and he squints, presses the edge of his hand against his forehead to shield them from the sun. He’s definitely outside, on a bed of soft green grass. On all sides of him is a forest.

At first, he can’t put his finger on it. There’s something off about it. Like if he blinks it’ll be gone. It’s massive, the trees so thick that he probably wouldn’t be able to fit his arms all the way around the trunks, dark and leafy, dappled light filtering through to spray across the forest floor in puddles of gold.

“Ten?” He calls tentatively, because that’s the last person he remembers being with. When he gets no response, he tries, “Jaehyun?”

If this is some kind of messed up prank, Jaehyun’s never going to hear the end of it.

“Jae!” he calls again, cupping his hands over his mouth to make the sound travel farther.

“My king,” a quiet voice chimes behind him.

Johnny blinks, recognizing the voice but not the words. He turns around, finds Jaehyun half cloaked in shadows, awkwardly leaning against a tree at the edge of the clearing. His head dips into a shallow bow and he says, “You called?”

Johnny frowns, sitting up straighter. “Dude,” he says “Why are we out here?”

Jaehyun slides forward into the light, and Johnny has to physically bite back his gasp.

Jaehyun looks the same as always; dark hair falling over a pale handsome face, broad shoulders, soft jaw. Only, from the crown of his head, two long, wickedly sharp horns curve straight out of his skin, bone white. They taper into perfect points towards the sky. When he blinks at Johnny, his dark eyes are silvery and strange, like molten metal. Finally, just when Johnny thought thinks couldn’t get any weirder, Jaehyun takes another step and behind him are a pair of wings.

They’re so big that Johnny doesn’t know how he hadn’t spotted them earlier. They look miraculously real, dark and glossy with a sheen like a crow’s, and with every step Jaehyun takes forward, they twitch and rustle like they’re part of his body. Which, Johnny supposes, they somehow are.

This is too weird, even for him.

Slowly, he rubs a hand over his eyes, like if he tries hard enough, he’ll be back home in his bed with Ten. Instead, the strange crow-Jaehyun stays standing in front of him, head tilted to the side in curiosity.

“Why are we outside?” Johnny tries instead of any of the obvious questions ricocheting around in his head.

“You insisted, my king.” Jaehyun reaches him at last, dropping down to one knee. He looks like one of those weird kids who cosplay in the park when Johnny’s out jogging, dressed in leather pants and a silky charcoal grey shirt that’s open in the back. For his wings, Johnny realizes with a start.

The absurdity of the situation is beginning to set in. The amusement and confusion is beginning to melt into panic, and Johnny hauls himself up, groans when there’s too much weight on his body.

He takes a very deep breath, tries to calm his rapid pulse.

Unfurling slowly from his back, with the same precision as any other limb on his body, are two massive black wings that stretch out from his shoulder blades and arrange themselves as neutrally as putting his arms down. They’re even bigger than Jaehyun’s, easily as wide as he is tall, ending right above his head, and when he walks, the very bottom feathers drag on the ground unless he uses his shoulder muscles to push them up just a little.

It’s surreal, and at the same time, it’s as if they’d been there all along. They feel as natural as his arms, the control just as exact as his other limbs.

Johnny’s in over his head, but even in the chaotic panic of his mind, he knows that freaking out in the middle of a forest is not going to help matters. It has to be a dream, or a really fucked up acid trip. There’s no way he just grew wings.

“My king,” Jaehyun says, his head still inclined. Johnny pushes a hand through his hair, half trying to brush it off his forehead and half afraid that he has horns as well. Fortunately, the wings seem to be the extent of his physical changes, and his hands tangle through silky hair without a hitch.

“Why are you calling me that?” He asks next, stepping towards the younger boy. Jaehyun begins to walk into the forest, and Johnny hesitates for a minute, then follows, unable to see any alternative option.

“Would you prefer ‘my lord’ today?”

All he’s been able to gauge from his experiences so far are that he and Jaehyun are part bird now, and that he’s some sort of king in this dream. He wonders if it’s better to play along with everything, or to let Jaehyun know he has no idea what is happening. Then, deciding on the former, he keeps his mouth shut and lets Jaehyun lead him through the underbrush.

“I have to say,” Jaehyun says with a half-smile, “You chose the worst night for a midnight excursion into the woods.”

“And why’s that?”

“We’re going to miss their arrival if we do not hurry.”

Whose arrival, Johnny has no idea, but he nods as if he does anyway, because Jaehyun’s looking at him like he expects Johnny to know what he’s talking about.

“How foolish of me,” he says, if only to appease the younger boy, “We can’t miss such an important occasion.”

Jaehyun’s jaw twitches, and it’s a familiar quirk. His own Jaehyun back home does it whenever Johnny steals the last slice of pizza from the fridge or forgets to make coffee in the morning. Even if Jaehyun’s a crow now, Johnny’s glad he can recognize at least this little habit. That not everything’s been flipped on its head.

“Hurry up,” Jaehyun snaps, stepping faster through the trees now. Finally, a tone Johnny recognizes instead of the rigid formality he’d been shown so far. Johnny stumbles after him and tries his best to keep up. Finally, after what seems like ages, they break through the last of the trees and into a field.

Johnny’s breath catches in his throat. Across the field lies a palace.

He remembers when he’d been very young, his parents had taken him to China on vacation. They’d stopped by the Forbidden City one afternoon, and even though it had been crowded with tourists, Johnny had taken in all the building had to offer with wide, awestruck eyes. Later, when he’d been a bit older and they’d visited relatives in Korea, he remembers visiting Gyeongbok Palace with his cousins, stirring up a ruckus in the museum portion of the palace, much to the disapproval of his aunts.

This palace is much like that; a sprawling, colorful compound of buildings beyond a gate.

“At least try to look enthusiastic,” Jaehyun reminds him, taking the sleeve of his silky shirt and pulling him along. At the gate, there are guards with similar silver eyes and horns, their wings tucked tight into their backs. Jaehyun nods towards them, and they bow low, prostrating almost all the way to the ground.

“Raven King,” they murmur as he passes.

Not crow- _Raven_.

Johnny tries to fold his wings in as uniformly as the guards, and to his surprise, they obey easily, folding up neatly into his back.

“Are you going to keep those out the entire time?” Jaehyun asks, coolly amused. “I know you like to strut, but if I were the Dragon Prince, I’d be intimidated by my betrothed walking around with his wings out all the time.”

Several words flash in his head. _Dragon Prince. Betrothed. Wings._

The panic he’d shoved to the side rises up inside him again, closing up his throat and scratching at his larynx.

He can’t be betrothed. He’s barely 22, not even out of college for another semester. He can’t handle marriage when he can’t even take care of his cat without Jaehyun’s help.

“Wait,” he says hastily, holding his hands up in front of him, “I’m not ready to see the-the Dragon Prince.”

Jaehyun arches a slender brow and gives him a very unimpressed look. “Why’s that?”

Johnny’s mind is racing trying to come up with excuses, but the first thing that comes out of his mouth is, “I look like I slept in the forest all night.”

The flat line of Jaehyun’s mouth presses even thinner with impatience. “You think I’m going to let you walk out in front of them looking like this?”

Johnny looks down at himself, suddenly self-conscious. He looks much the same as Jaehyun, dressed in similar leather pants and a silky shirt just a shade darker.

Jaehyun yanks him into a building then, past more guards, who he nods sharply to. They quickly assemble themselves at the doors, bowing when Johnny passes. Everyone’s been bowing when he passes. At the front of the building, there’s a large statue of a raven, its wings outstretched, beak to the sky. The eyes are glimmering dark red, set with rubies.

Inside, the halls of the building are wide and imposing, set with gold and painted dark. The floors are some kind of hard mosaic tile set with colored stones in the shape of more ravens midflight. Johnny takes a second to appreciate the care with which it’s been made. It’s only when Jaehyun leads him through a door and he finds himself in a room with a strange low platform that must be a bed that he realizes this is his residence.

“Undress,” Jaehyun says, already tugging at the loose laces holding the back of his shirt together around his wings. “And put your fucking wings away before you hit someone in the face.”

“So forward,” Johnny teases, but then frowns. “I can’t.”

“Can’t _what_?”

“Put my wings away.” Johnny shifts awkwardly from foot to foot as Jaehyun tugs the shirt off all the way and tosses it in the direction of a servant who stands against the wall, ready to retrieve it.

Jaehyun takes a slow deep breath, eyes shutting briefly, and Johnny almost feels bad for him.

The younger boy crosses his arms tightly to his chest and suddenly, his own wings are disappearing, retreating into him. “There. Are you happy? Can you please make my life easier for one day and put them away?”

Johnny bites his lip, glancing at the servants by the door. They’re all silent, heads tilted to the floor, but he doesn’t know how much he can say in front of them. Jaehyun, as unfamiliar as this version of him is, is still someone he knows, at the very least.

Jaehyun bites his lip, eyes scanning Johnny’s face. Finally, he nods, says in a cool voice, “Dismissed,” and waves a hand. The servants file out one by one, letting the heavy carved wood door shut behind them. Jaehyun’s face softens, and he reaches a hand out, curls his fingers slowly around Johnny’s wrist. “What’s wrong?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” Johnny takes a deep shuddery breath and rubs a hand over his face and through his hair. “It’s been a weird morning. Will you please just explain to me how to put my wings away?”

Jaehyun hesitates for a second, then says, “Just tell them to disappear. Imagine them gone, and they’ll obey. John, you _know_ how to do this. What’s going on?”

The first thing Johnny does his shut his eyes, willing with all his might for the heavy, huge wings to disappear within him, to retreat until he needs them. There’s a tiny _whoosh_ , and a sense of weightlessness.

“Last night,” Johnny begins, sitting down carefully at the edge of the bed, “When I went to sleep, I didn’t have wings, I wasn’t a king, and you definitely weren’t my babysitter. I know it sounds crazy,” he adds when Jaehyun shoots him a confused look, “But I think… I’m either dreaming right now, or something is very wrong and I ended up here when I shouldn’t have.”

“You can choose not to believe me, Jae,” he continues, “But I’m still in school. I haven’t even thought about getting married, much less being _betrothed_. There are no raven people where I come from, or princes or kings. You’re my lazy ass roommate who forgets to feed the cat and gets off his ass drunk every weekend with his dumb boyfriend. I don’t know why I’m here or what’s going on anymore.”

Jaehyun doesn’t burst out into laughter or spear him dead where he stands as soon as he finishes, so he’d take that as a good sign. In fact, he looks deep in thought.

“But why now?” Jaehyun asks, eyes distant. “Why the day before your wedding?”

Johnny lets out a relieved breath. No matter what reality, what universe, at least Jaehyun, calm, rational Jaehyun remains his best friend.

“I have no idea,” he admits honestly, “There’s nothing in my world that’s capable of this.”

“No,” Jaehyun shakes his head quickly, “There’s no magic here strong enough for that either.”

“I can’t stay here,” Johnny says, fear rushing into him for the first time all day. “I have a home, a family, I have my own _life_. I can’t get married to someone I don’t know. I have to get home.”

“Don’t panic,” Jaehyun says, his voice unfairly even, “you’re here now, and until we find a way to get you back, you can’t just go around telling everyone. People depend on you here, you know. You’re our king. You can’t start falling apart all of a sudden.”

“But-“

“Take a deep breath,” Jaehyun says. He’s using his _Taeyong is drunk and we have to convince him to come home_ voice. Johnny hates being on the receiving end of it.

But he has a point. Johnny inhales slowly, lets it out in a long exhale and tries his best to shut his mind up. “What now?” He asks once he’s deemed himself calm enough.

“Now,” Jaehyun says grimly, “We dress you up and go greet your husband-to-be.”

-

Johnny’s pretty comfortable being naked around other people. He’s had enough significant others and been in a fraternity, and both of those involved a lot of nudity. He’s confident enough in his body that he doesn’t mind walking around without a shirt.

But this. This is a little much, even for him.

Jaehyun takes him to a chamber with a steaming bathing pool in the center of it, wide enough that he could swim if he wanted. The air’s thick with steam and it makes the ends of his hair curl, condensation leaving him clammy all over. The water smells like roses when Jaehyun makes him strip off his pants and sink into it.

He feels oddly shy letting a bunch of strangers wash his hair and scrub his body until his skin’s flushed and gleaming, massaging strange fragrant oils into his back and arms. He tries thanking them whenever he gets the chance, but none of them meet his eye, bowing their heads low as they work.

Jaehyun sits on the edge of the bathing pool, hands in his lap, and tries to crash course him on everything he needs to know.

“You’re the sixteenth Raven King,” he begins, swishing his fingers around the rosewater, “You were first in line for the throne, though your mother was not the first wife of the previous King. You’ve lived at the palace all your life, and you’ve been betrothed to the Dragon Prince of the Sky Kingdom since you were very young.”

“And the Dragon Prince,” Johnny says as a girl with a shock of white hair and matching little wings rubs oil into his nail beds, “Do I love him?”

Jaehyun cocks his head to the side, and the gesture makes him seem distinctly birdlike. It unnerves Johnny somehow, being something less than human. “You’ve never met.”

“But we’ve been betrothed for years?”

“Over two decades.”

“Huh,” Johnny muses, sinking back into the water. “Jae, I should warn you. I’m not going to fall in love with him. I already…have someone.”

“Oh?” Jaehyun sits up straighter, eyebrows shooting up in curiosity. “In your other world?”

Johnny thinks back to Ten, feels a shred of longing in his chest. He thinks about Ten’s loud laughter, the brightness of his smile, the way he uses any excuse to crawl into Johnny’s lap when he’s sitting on the couch, how he loves going out for bubble tea in the middle of the night. Before his yearning can get a firmer hold of him, he says quickly, “It’s not fair to this Dragon Prince, but I can’t. I’ve been in love with him for years.”

Quietly, Jaehyun says, “I understand.”

“In my world,” Johnny ponders, “You have someone too.”

“Do I?”

“And judging from your expression,” Johnny narrows his eyes at the blush rising in Jaehyun’s cheeks, all the way up to his ears, “I’d posit you have someone here, as well.”

Jaehyun ducks his head down, says sullenly, “Not really.” He sounds like a child being caught doing something he shouldn’t have.

Johnny’s been thinking about this for some time. If there is an alternate version of Jaehyun and of him, he’d wager there would be alternate versions of Jaehyun’s boyfriend, as well.

“Tell me his name,” Johnny says softly.

Jaehyun frowns at him. “I don’t want to.”

“Does it stay the same?” Johnny wonders out loud. He stands up, the water running rivulets down his chest. The servant rubbing perfumed oil across the broad span of his shoulders startles at the movement, knocking the oil dish off the edge and onto the floor, where it shatters with a sharp noise.

“Oh shit,” Johnny mumbles, “Fuck, I’m sorry,” he says, but the servant is already spilling apologies like hymns, fingers shaking as he picks up the broken pieces of the plate.

Johnny instinctively goes to help pick up the fragments, but Jaehyun knocks his hand away with a glare. Johnny knows exactly what that means. _You’ll just make it worse_. The servant looks close to tears, and Johnny recoils, sinking back into the water. “It’s fine,” he says as calmly as he can, trying not to be bothered by how frightened the boy looks of him. “It was an accident.”

The boy bows low, finishes picking up the pieces, and runs from the room, lower lip trembling. He can’t be any older than Mark, Jaehyun’s younger brother. Johnny looks up at Jaehyun, but he just shrugs helplessly.

Johnny frowns at him, then turns to another servant. “Make sure he doesn’t get in trouble for that.”

“Of course, my king,” she says, then slips out of the chamber after the younger boy.

“What’s your job, then? My babysitter?” Johnny asks, standing once again, and two more servants approach him immediately, their hands filled with towels to dry him off. They’re not fluffy like he’s used to back home, and he has to try very hard to keep still as they pat him dry.

Jaehyun squints at him. “Head of the royal guard, actually.” Then, after a minute, “I suppose the two are mutually inclusive.”

“You’re _my_ bodyguard? _You_? I’ve seen you cry because you accidentally almost sat on the cat once.”

“There is no better swordsman than me,” Jaehyun grits out. “If you need a demonstration to prove that I can do my job, I can provide you with one.”

The servants drape a silky robe over Johnny’s body. One of them steps forward to tie it, but Johnny waves him off, quickly knotting it together.

He follows after Jaehyun to yet another room and finds himself in a dressing room.

“What, am I a damsel in distress? I must not be, or everyone wouldn’t be so scared of me.”

“You do alright,” Jaehyun says cheekily, sitting down on an embroidered chaise lounge. The threads of the cushions gleam dark gold, and Johnny takes another second to appreciate the aesthetic beauty of this alien world. Jaehyun crosses his long legs over each other and says, “You’re adequate with any weapon because you had tutors growing up. In fact, we spar sometimes. But you prefer to use your magic to physical weapons.”

Johnny’s mouth falls open. “I have _magic_?”

“You don’t have magic in your world?” Jaehyun’s frown deepens. “What kind of mundane life do you live?”

“A simple one?” Johnny tries to keep the excitement from showing on his face. “Show me how my magic works.”

“I… I can’t. It’s solely yours. I don’t have magic of my own.”

“Well, what kind of stuff can I do?”

The servants undo the knot holding his robe on and let it drop to the floor. Johnny doesn’t even care that he’s ass naked in the middle of the room. The prospect of having _magic_ is much more important than his flaccid dick being in full view for everyone.

Jaehyun shrugs, makes a show of rolling his shoulders slowly. “You can manipulate shadows, mostly. It’s a power only the Raven King holds, and it’s passed down from the high priests at the time of a new coronation. You got it years ago, when you came into power.”

“Could they-the priests, I mean- have anything to do with this?” Johnny huffs out an exhale as the servants drape him in more robes. These are finer, dark red thread on black silk, embroidered to portray more ravens in flight.

Jaehyun makes a contemplative noise in the back of his throat. “I wouldn’t bet on it. They pass the power on, but they can’t wield it themselves. Not worthy, according to legend.”

“So, I’m the only one with magic?” Johnny stares down at his hands. They look the same as they always do, palms broad, fingers long, tendons standing stark against skin when he flexes them. Could they really be capable of something as extraordinary as magic?

“You have specific abilities no one else has,” Jaehyun corrects, “But tons of people have the gift. It’s just at a smaller scale than your bloodline. Your family’s power is what makes your dynasty so strong.”

“You really have no idea how to make it happen?”

“You usually just wave your hands a little and it happens by itself. I don’t think it’s ever been something you needed to control rigidly because it obeys you on its own.”

Someone ties a belt (a sash? A colorful band?) around his waist, cinching the loose material of the robes at the taper of his waist. Then, a weight on his head as they place a crown on it. He feels like a dress up doll.

“Finally,” Jaehyun sighs, standing from the lounge, “You look presentable.”

“Wait,” Johnny says slowly, “Let me see myself.”

Immediately, a servant brings over what Johnny first mistakes as a mirror. When she holds it up, though, he realizes what it truly is. Water, stretched impossibly over a frame. A vertical reflecting pool, showing every one of his features clearly.  When she tilts it forward to let him see himself, none of the water falls out.

Magic.

Jaehyun sees the dumbstruck expression on his face and laughs out loud. “You’ve never seen a reflector before?”

“We use glass where I’m from…” Johnny whispers, slightly breathless. He reaches a hand forward cautiously, afraid of disrupting the surface of the water. The pads of his fingers skim across the surface, making water ripple lightly through the mirror.

Then he gets a good look at himself.

The clothing they’d dressed him in is unlike any historical attire he’s seen before. It’s not quite East Asian like he’d expected from the architecture, and it’s certainly not the Western fairytales he’d grown up watching. It’s strange, like both and completely different. The crown on his head is more of a headpiece than anything, a twisted gold circlet that disappears into the hair parted over it.

When his gaze rises from his clothing to his face, he blinks.

It’s him. It’s the same face he’s stared at in the mirror for the past twenty-two years, except for one tiny detail. His eyes are the same unnerving silver as Jaehyun’s. It’s weird, seeing these foreign eyes on his own face. He screws his eyes shut, half convinced they’ll be dark again when he opens them.

No such luck.

“Are you done?” Jaehyun asks. “We’re running late.”

Finally turning away from the mirror, Johnny runs his hands through his hair one last time, thankful that it’s kept short, at least, unlike the styles they show on the historical dramas Taeyong likes to binge watch when he thinks no one else is on their Netflix. In fact, besides his eyes, he looks pretty much the same.

He follows Jaehyun through the halls of his residence until they reach the same gate they’d entered through, and the guards kneel once again as they pass.

This time, he spends a lot more time examining the different buildings in the palace. His residence is fairly simple save for the large statue. The paths through the buildings are laid in stone, most of them painted with more avian imagery.

As they walk, Johnny brushes his arm against Jaehyun’s. “You know,” he reminds, a smile tugging on the corner of his mouth, “You never told me who you’re in love with. If it’s the same as my world, I want to say in advance that I hate when you guys act repulsive in public.”

Jaehyun hesitates. His face is much more stoic as soon as they’re out of the king’s residence, Johnny notices. He must have a reputation to uphold.

“We are not…” Jaehyun swallows and looks down at his feet. “We are not allowed. I am not allowed. As the head of the guard, my duty is to you first. I am forbidden from being with him.”

Johnny stops short. “Did I say that?” he demands, catching Jaehyun’s wrist when he keeps walking. “ _Jaehyun_.”

The younger boy shakes his head tersely. “It was a rule long before you came to power. I can’t afford to get…distracted when I’m supposed to be protecting you.”

“But you said it yourself; my magic is the most potent. I should be able to protect myself, right?”

Jaehyun is giving him a peculiar smile. “You said that before, too.” He whispers, “You may think yourself different now, but you’re still quite the same at heart, I think.”

“Jae,” Johnny lets his wrist fall, and they resume their walk to wherever they’re going. “the Jaehyun I know, the one I’ve known for years, loves Taeyong with all his heart.”

At the mention of Taeyong’s name, Jaehyun’s cheeks flush a shade darker. “Please,” he pleads softly, “Don’t. Not right now.”

Taeyong is Ten’s roommate, and Johnny realizes with a start that if he’s here, Ten may as well be, too. That thought sends a strange shiver up his spine. Ten with dark velvety raven wings, looking up at him with silver eyes and whispering in his sweet voice, “ _my king_.”

Johnny suppresses the thought as soon as it comes to him. He doesn’t need to think about his unrequited love for Ten on the way to meet his mysterious new fiancé.

“So, this Dragon Prince,” Johnny says conversationally. “Why haven’t we ever met before, if we’ve been engaged for so long?”

“The Dragons reside in the Sky Kingdom,” Jaehyun explains, pressing a hand to the small of his back and pushing in slightly to guide him along a smaller path, “They don’t come down here very often. As the Raven King, your domain is both sky and land. Where your kingdom ends, the Dragon King’s begins. The reason for this engagement is to foster good faith and peace between the two kingdoms. It was all set up by your fathers ages ago.”

“But?”

“But the Dragons don’t come down from the sky very often. They’re a very old, secretive people. Or at least, that’s what they say. The fact that you’re betrothed to their prince fostered a lot of gossip. It’s not that they’re _bad_ ,” he adds hastily when he sees Johnny’s expression, “They’re just... a lot of ancient power. Power that’s been lost to the terrestrial kingdoms. Power enough to rival yours, in fact.”

“Can he manipulate shadows as well?”

Jaehyun shoots him an unimpressed look. “Wow,” he deadpans, “You really are Johnny. Only he would say something so dumb.”

“Shut up,” Johnny says, grunts as he’s shoved into another room. “Just tell me what he can do so I know what to expect.”

“Fire manipulation,” Jaehyun whispers. “An ancient art. The elements are lost to many of us, but they retained it somehow.”

Something about the low tone of Jaehyun’s voice makes Johnny shiver. Just his luck, for his betrothed to burn him to death by accident.

“Though,” Jaehyun adds contemplatively, “I’ve heard he’s quite beautiful. Of course, I heard it from Taeyong, whose view is skewed by his allegiance to his people and King. But he has an eye for such things.”

“Taeyong is a Dragon too?” Johnny feels his nerves burn as they approach a wide set of golden and black doors, set with the same rubies he’s been seeing all over the place. The guards dip their heads respectfully, and Johnny nods at them.

“He is part of your court. The son of the ambassador the Dragons sent at the time of your betrothal. His mother died, but he stayed.”

There’s one more question on the tip of his tongue. He’s not sure if he can ask or not. In the real world, the only reason he’d become friends with Jaehyun is them being the only queer kids in their fraternity. In this world, his betrothed is a _prince_. Johnny wonders how that works, but he keeps his curiosity at bay for another time.

“No more questions,” Jaehyun whispers then, “Bow when you think it’s respectful, but keep your head held high. Remember, they’re in your court. The Dragon Prince is known for his beauty, but also his sharp tongue.”

The guards at the doors heave them open then, and Johnny’s panic flares again. They step through the door together, into the hall. It must be the throne room. There’s a throne on the end of the room opposite them, framed by two wrought iron wings the same shape as Johnny’s, the feathers made by curling metal in remarkable detail and grace.

And by the foot of the throne, kneeling in front of it, is a boy clothed in brilliant scarlet, his elaborate golden headpiece obscuring his face. Johnny stops in front of him, and finds his face covered completely by fine gold chains that drop from the front of his headpiece down to his chin.

Johnny’s breath catches in his throat, heart lurching up. He knows that posture. He knows the easy grace of that body when it rises. The boy opens his mouth and begins to speak, and Johnny knows that voice like it’s his own, has known it crying for more and laughing deeply and broken with tears. It’s a voice he keeps close to his heart.

“My king.”

Johnny’s fingers shake as he brushes the layer of golden chains away. They chime as they’re pushed aside, the sound as soft and melodious as the voice of the boy under them. Johnny’s knees feel like liquid. He forces the tangled words onto his tongue and out.

“Hello, Ten.”


	2. Down the Rabbit Hole

Johnny remembers the moment he first realized he’d fallen in love with Ten.

It had been in their second year of university, roughly a semester after the frat party incident. They’d become friends through their respective roommates, as Jaehyun and Taeyong had began dating less than a month into their second semester freshman year.

He’d never thought of the younger boy as anything but a close friend. Ten’s promiscuity had become well known around campus, as well as his tendency to break hearts in the case that one of his conquests get too attached.

Johnny’s been a romantic at heart forever, sticking with one long term girlfriend all throughout high school. His sexuality’s always been a bit fluid, but the older he gets, the more he’s been leaning toward boys. Even through freshman year, though, he’d had one steady boyfriend. Ten hadn’t even been on his radar.

Of course, he’d noticed the physical attraction between them. Ten’s a flirt at his core, and Johnny’s been charmed by his wit more times than he can count.

This particular occasion though, had been a Saturday night in Johnny and Jaehyun’s room. Between the four of them, a bottle of Jack had dried up quickly, and Jaehyun and Taeyong had relocated to Jaehyun’s bed to do all kinds of unspeakable acts while saying disgusting things like “ _I love you to the moon and back”_ and “ _I’d pluck the stars from the sky for you_.”

Ten had grabbed his hand, looked at him with bright twinkling eyes, and said with a grin, “Let’s get out of here.”

He’d followed in a drunken stupor, and they’d winded up at Ten’s dorm, sitting on the floor between Ten and Taeyong’s beds, Ten’s head on Johnny’s shoulder, their fingers tangled loosely. Ten had whispered the words so softly, he’d nearly missed them over the rush of blood in his ears. “Sometimes I think I don’t deserve love. I only ever hurt the people who fall in love with me.”

He’d sounded so soft, uncertain, and all Johnny had wanted in that moment was to pull him close and hold him.

Then he’d said the words that had sealed their fate. “Promise me you’ll never fall in love with me.”

They’d been said half joking, Ten’s mouth quirked into a smile, but his eyes had been serious, a pinky extended in the space between them. Without thinking, Johnny had linked his own pinky through it, twisting them together and saying, “I promise.”

That had been the first night they’d slept together, a tangle of drunken limbs and sloppy hot kisses smeared against mouths and shoulders. Afterwards, Ten had passed out. He’d always been bad at holding his alcohol, and Johnny had laid awake for another hour, eyes tracing over his fine features and wondering why the vulnerability on Ten’s face had made his heart thump so unevenly.

It’s love, he’d realized the next morning, when Ten had awoken with puffy eyes and swollen lips but had grinned full force anyways. It’s the look in his eyes when he looks up at Johnny, dark pupils shining like stars in the night sky.

It’s this same look in his eyes now, as Johnny pushes aside his gold headpiece and looks at him for the first time since this strange day began, that makes Johnny realize how irrevocably in love he is.

“You know my common name,” Ten breathes, eyebrows rising in surprise. The first time Johnny had seen the name _Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul_ had been on Facebook their freshman year and it had been followed by the disclaimer that “ _if any of you try calling me Chittaphon I will rip off your dick and shove it down your throat.”_

“I-“ Johnny bites his lip, unsure of how to explain this. Finally, he just shrugs. “I know many things,” he says cryptically, hoping it is regal enough an answer.

The corner of Ten’s mouth curls into a familiar smirk. He inclines his head a little, says, “I would expect no less from my husband-to-be.”

Ten’s risen on his tiptoes to meet him head on, Johnny’s face tilted down. For a second, they’re lost in their own little world, and if Johnny tries hard enough, this foreign, alien Ten could be his own.

Then, someone clears their throat. Ten breaks out of his stupor, takes a step back and coughs softly, a flush rising in his cheeks.  “My king,” he says once again, dipping his chin in a loose, graceful bow. The thin gold chains fall back over his face, obscuring it again.

The person who had interrupted them steps forward then, and Johnny finds himself staring at another familiar face.

Taeyong looks different and the same. His eyes are just as big on his face, but they’re all black pupil, no whites visible. His angular features are even finer, the points of his nose and cheekbones sharp on his face, the line of his jaw severe. Through his dark red hair, Johnny gets a glimpse of his ears, which end at fine points, just too sharp to be human.

Ten’s hidden himself away just like Johnny has, then. His eyes had been human, the curves of his face no daintier than they normally are. But then again, Ten’s always had a particularly delicate face, the curve of his nose a soft upturned slope, big eyes dark and long lashed, lips quirked at the corners. Johnny doesn’t need him turning into a Tolkien elf just yet.

Taeyong inclines his head towards the throne, and Johnny notices for the first time that the room is full of people. In his single-minded focus to get to Ten, he’d disregarded the others.

There are wide low tables set up at each corner of the room, with cushions to sit on for their guests. At the center of the room is the table surely meant for Johnny and Ten.

 Johnny reaches a hand out for Ten to take. It’s remarkable, how similar even this is. Ten hates putting lotion on his hands, and they’re always warm, dry against Johnny’s fingers. This Ten is the same, from the way his hands feel to the touch to the way he wraps all his fingers around Johnny’s thumb, holding on like a little kid.

Johnny sinks down into the cushions, and Ten does the same, albeit much more gracefully.

Everyone’s looking at him expectantly. Johnny throws a helpless look Jaehyun’s way, and Jaehyun rolls his eyes, a smile flickering on his mouth. Thankfully, he takes pity and steps into the middle of the room.

“The Raven King would like to thank all of you for coming today,” he says, bowing low to the ground. “The court of ravens is forever grateful for the union of our kingdoms. We are at your disposal. However, tonight is a night for celebration, not politics. Please enjoy the best of what the Raven King has to offer.”

Jaehyun claps his palms together once, the sound ringing loud and sharp, and the court breaks into quiet applause.

“You know,” Ten says, voice just soft enough not to be overheard by their courtiers, “I’ve heard many things about you.” His hands are folded neatly in his lap, and when he shifts a bit, the wide flare of his sleeve slides up his arm just enough for Johnny to get a glimpse of a burst of color against his skin. Before he can decipher it, the sleeve slides back again.

“What kinds of things?” Johnny asks, unable to help the curiosity. If there is another version of him out there, one that knows about being a king and having magic instead of the endless research papers and pining Johnny’s been dealt, he wants to know as much about the other him as possible.

 Before Ten can answer, Taeyong slides behind him and when he nods, takes a hold of the tall golden headpiece. He hadn’t gotten a good look before, more distracted by the prospect of seeing Ten’s face, but now he realizes it’s a delicate twining dragon, the length of its body curling around Ten’s head like a crown. Taeyong takes it off carefully, then retreats.

Ten looks so achingly similar to the night before, it takes Johnny by surprise. He can almost feel the phantom caress of Ten’s fingers against his skin, the warm press of his mouth against his own.

He averts his eyes quickly to the full table before them. There are platters of roasted meats, green leafy vegetables, sauces in all assortments of color, and Johnny’s not sure where to begin. After Jaehyun’s short speech, the majority of their guests have begun to eat, but Johnny takes the little golden bowl of rice wine by his elbow and takes a sip of that first.

The last time he’d had any amount of alcohol in his system had been when he’d gotten shitfaced a couple weeks ago with Taeil at some bar off campus, but this is more refined. It slides down his throat milky and sweet, and before he knows it, he’s putting down the empty bowl. Immediately, a servant moves forward to refill it.

“For one, I heard your magic is a sight to be seen. They say you can disappear completely into shadow when it suits you. That you can pull darkness from the corners of rooms and weave it like thread. That you could choke a man to death with a simple clench of your fist if he’s not in the light.” Ten’s voice stays soft, serene as he says the violent words, and he takes his own bowl of wine, takes a slow sip.

“But,” he adds, a smile tugging at the edge of his lips, “I’ve also heard you’re too soft hearted to do that.” Ten takes another deep drink from his bowl, replaces it on the table, and reaches for something that may or may not be a whole leg of lamb.

Soft hearted is an understatement. Not that he can speak for the reputation the Raven version of him has, but Johnny can’t even make it through watching _The Titanic_ without crying afterwards, and he’s seen the movie at least ten times.

The thing is, Johnny knows a million tiny inconsequential things about Ten. He hates drinking milk plain because it doesn’t sit well in his stomach. He doesn’t like fruits, doesn’t like to do his own laundry, likes when Johnny leaves bruises around his wrists and hips, likes being carried around, as much as he complains about his size.

But while those traits may be present in the Ten beside him, he can’t exactly tell him how much he knows. So instead, he knocks back another bowl of rice wine.

“I’m not _soft_ ,” he argues, because it’s what he says every time Jaehyun or Ten tease him in real life, “I’m just a decent human being.”

“Ah, but Taeyong would beg to differ. He’s told me all about you, whenever he would visit home. I have to admit, I was curious about you.”

“I mean…” Johnny shifts awkwardly, holding his wine bowl out, and this time Jaehyun kneels fill it.

“Stop drinking,” he hisses, filling the bowl only halfway before rising to his feet again.

“We _are_ getting married tomorrow,” Johnny says, putting the bowl back down on the table, untouched. “Curiosity is normal.”

Ten gets that look in his eyes. The one that causes almost all of Johnny’s headaches. He holds up his own bowl of wine between them, leans in close, and runs his tongue over his lower lip. His very pierced tongue.

“I’ve heard one more thing. Something I’m particularly curious about.”

“What?” For the first time, Johnny’s apprehensive.

Ten’s face is flushed. Johnny looks down into his bowl and finds it half-full of some clear liquor. It’s very much _not_ rice wine, and Johnny knows from experience Ten’s almost as much of a lightweight as Taeyong. And he’s been sipping at whatever liquor they’d filled his cup with for most of the night.

“How big-“

“The Dragon King’s court is known for many things,” Jaehyun interrupts loudly, stepping forward into the center of the room again. Johnny thanks whatever magical and nonmagical forces are out there for Jung Jaehyun and his impeccable timing.

“But one thing that remains unmatched is the skill of the Dragon Prince when it comes to dance.”

“One more thing I’ve heard you enjoy,” Ten whispers, cheeks red, his black-lined eyes flitting from the table in front of them to Jaehyun. “A good show.”

Somewhere, a deep bass drum begins to beat, and Ten stands fluidly. “Nothing like a little drink to loosen the limbs,” he says, grinning down at Johnny, who feels more than a little dumbstruck.

Ten holds his arms out, and then Taeyong’s there again, removing the heavy robes draped over him, the fine embroidered red and gold top layer, and Ten rolls his head back, eyes falling shut. Under the outfit, he’s got on a long piece of fabric that glimmers like the night sky, as inky black as his hair. Where it twines or fastens, Johnny’s got no idea, but he does know that Ten’s still covered up, even in the slinky, sheer material, from his ankles to the base of his neck. It’s simple, modest, but at the same time alarmingly sexy when matched with the way Ten’s mouth quirks into a smirk.

Normal Ten- non-Dragon Ten, that is, has been dancing since he’d been a kid. Johnny’s been partying with him way too many times not to know the glint in his eyes when he slits them open to glance down at him again.

Jaehyun’s still speaking distantly, but Johnny’s too focused on the way Ten stretches his slender limbs, the muscles shifting under his tan skin.

Finally, as Jaehyun falls back behind Johnny, Ten takes several light-footed steps into the center of the room, stopping at the mouth of a large tile raven painted into the floor. Dark, heavily lined eyes catch Johnny’s, and Ten extends his hands towards the ceiling, every muscle in his body wound tight in control.

He’s always been a beautiful dancer, but as a soft harmonious stringed instrument begins to sound, Johnny’s absolutely breathless. Ten moves like the music commands him, his movements lithe and light, sensual from the splay of his slender fingers to the heavy gaze he uses to draw Johnny’s attention.

He finishes by sinking to the floor, arms outstretched in Johnny’s direction, and for a moment it’s just the two of them again, Ten’s dark eyes boring into his until the crowd bursts into applause and Ten rises, panting for breath.

He doesn’t put his heavy red clothing back on. Instead, he sits down next to Johnny again and reaches for the pitcher of water, which one of the servants kneeling by the table rushes to poor him.

“I hope I lived up to expectation,” he says around the gold rim of the cup.

Johnny swallows hard. “You’re stunning.”

Ten hides his smile into the cup and Johnny pretends not to see the pleased expression.

Sometime into his fourth cup of rice wine, someone replaces it with the same clear liquor Ten’s drinking, and if Johnny’s vision blurs with every burning drink, he can’t complain, because the alcohol makes Ten more touchy. The Dragon Prince keeps a hand on Johnny’s thigh while other dancers- these from the court of ravens, according to Jaehyun- file in, their faces meticulously made up, bodies twisting seductively.

Not that they need have tried. Johnny’s eyes come back to Ten no matter what spectacle the court finds for them, whether beautiful dancer or instrument player.

Half of him still expects Ten to turn to him with a grin and say, “I can’t believe you fell for all this, John. You’re the most gullible idiot, how could you think magic exists?”

In fact, he’s still fairly sure that this has been the most fucked up dream he’s ever had, but the warm weight of Ten’s hand on his thigh feels solid, too real to be a dream.

 By the time they’ve finished up entertainment and dinner draws to a close, Jaehyun shoots him a pointed look. Both he and Taeyong haven’t had a bite to eat, Johnny observes.

Johnny sits up straight, tries to deepen his voice enough to sound authoritative. “I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight,” he begins, slightly unsure. Jaehyun nods almost imperceptibly in his peripheral vision, and he continues, “The court of ravens is pleased to host our guests and my soon-to-be husband, the Dragon Prince. Personally, I look forward to the Prince’s…charms, as his reputation precedes him.”

He must have said the right thing, because there’s a smattering of laughter through the courtiers.

“Once again, I am humbled and honored to have envoys from the Sky Kingdom. Let us meet again at the wedding.”

Somewhere, the deep bass drum beats once more, and people begin to rise to their feet, walking around their tables to the empty center of the room. Johnny’s brows crinkle in confusion, but then every courtier prostrates down to the floor, bowing until their foreheads touch the ground.

Ten takes his hand then, squeezes it tight between his own fingers.

It’s the beginning of something.

-

It’s not until after the guests are gone that Johnny finally rises up and turns to Jaehyun. “Well,” he says just low enough for Ten not to overhear, “That was kind of a shitshow.”

Jaehyun narrows his eyes. “How are you even still standing? I’ve never seen you drink so much.”

“No,” Johnny reminds him, slightly bitter, “You’ve never seen _me_ drink at all.”

Jaehyun just raises an impeccable eyebrow, arms crossed in front of his chest. Before he can open his mouth to deliver whatever chastisement is surely attempting to spill from his lips, Ten interrupts, “There is something I must discuss with the Raven King alone.”

Johnny pivots to look at him. Taeyong’s draping his slight frame in the red robe again, and Ten frowns when the heavy embroidered fabric settles on his shoulders, the interwoven golden threads glimmering in the dim light of the throne room. He’s looking expectantly from Jaehyun to Taeyong, who looks much more reluctant about leaving them alone.

Johnny meets his eyes for a split second, and it’s enough to convince him. “Go,” he says gently to Jaehyun, “Get something to eat and I’ll meet you back in my rooms.”

Jaehyun’s feathers rustle behind him, and his jaw twitches, but he bows and says, “As you wish,” and walks away quickly.

Taeyong stares after him, tracing his long legs with his eyes. Softly, Ten takes his hand, pressing a kiss to the back of his knuckles. “You are relieved for the night,” he murmurs against Taeyong’s skin, and then his eyes crinkle when he smiles, “I wish you good fortune.”

Taeyong’s pale cheeks flush, but he nods sharply, following after Jaehyun after a quick, “The same to you.”

And then it’s just Ten and Johnny, standing in the middle of the room, empty save for the servants still cleaning up after the courtiers.

“They’re in love,” Ten says serenely, as calm as if he were making an observation about the weather.

“They are,” Johnny agrees easily. It’s simple to see.

Then Ten turns to face him, face as unreadable as ever. “But we are not.”

Johnny hesitates. He’s been in love with Ten for so long, it aches deep in his chest, like a throbbing open wound. But this Ten is not the same as the one he fell in love with.

This Ten has just met him. They haven’t spent three years together full of drunken many-night-stands and binge-watching trashy reality shows on Netflix and going out for midnight snack runs. This isn’t the same Ten who sends him nudes asking if they’re good enough to send to other people, or who visited him at his internship all last summer and brings him coffee when he’s up late working on papers.

So, Johnny swallows his panic and says truthfully, “No, we aren’t.”

Ten nods like that’s the answer he’d expected. “Have you ever had a feeling about someone?” He asks, voice softening, “Not like magic, but something deeper inside. A feeling of knowing.”

“Knowing what?”

Instead of answering, Ten hesitates visibly, pulling the swell of his lower lip into his mouth. Then, he says, “Do you know the story of how the Dragon Court came to be?”

When Johnny doesn’t reply, Ten assures him, “Not many do. It’s practically legend even in our kingdom. More myth than history.”

“Would you like to tell me?”

As they’ve spoken, they’ve begun to move unconsciously towards the great carved doors of the room. The guards open them immediately to let them pass, and Ten dips his chin graciously.

“Are you walking me back to my quarters?” Ten’s lip twitches into a smirk. “How chivalrous, my king.”

“What kind of host would I be if I let you wander the ground alone after dark?”

“Hmm,” Ten slides a slim hand into the crook of Johnny’s elbow, holding onto him lightly. “I see.”

“And you don’t have to call me ‘my king,’ you know,” Johnny adds, making his way down the tiled steps. The palace compound had been fairly busy before the feast, servants and guards flitting back and forth between buildings, but now it’s silent save for the occasional guard patrolling the walkways. “If I know your common name, you must know mine. You’re free to call me by it.”

“Am I?” Ten asks, curiosity raising his voice, “They told me I wasn’t supposed to do that, even though I had Taeyong tell me ages ago.”

“No,” Johnny says immediately, “Please, go ahead. All these formalities are driving me crazy.”

 “Okay…Johnny,” Ten says slowly. The second Johnny’s name escapes his lips, a wash of heat spill down his spine, slow like honey. “Would you like me to tell you the story of the Dragon Court?”

“I would love that,” Johnny replies. They’ve reached the bottom of the stairs, but Ten keeps his hand around the inside of Johnny’s arm.

Ten makes another noise, as if in approval.

“They say the world was a frightening place when magic wasn’t a given gift. When it belonged to everyone. The dragons sought to find solace in such an unpredictable world. They possessed the power of flight, and so, they established a kingdom in the clouds, breathing magic onto air to make their palace. But the Sky Kingdom was populated only by dragons at the beginning. There were no humans, no children, for the dragons of old were immortal, and young ones were few and far between. But this is common knowledge. I’m sure it’s known even down here.”

Ten looks up at him then, and Johnny nods solemnly, like he knows all of this.

“But one dragon- the youngest, had a fascination with humans. He had been watching from the sky, and he’d fallen in love with a human. It was an inexplicable kind of love, one that burned so deep that he was left weak when he couldn’t see her, that made him senseless. Soon, all he wanted was to bring her into the realm of the dragons. He couldn’t stand being apart from her, and so one night, he travelled down to the earth.”

“And he stole her away,” Johnny guesses. Ten hums, stopping to kneel by the side of the stone path. When he straightens again, he’s holding a tiny purple wildflower between his fingers. He holds it out to Johnny. “For me?”

Ten nods, the faintest smile on his mouth. Johnny ducks down, and Ten tucks the stem of the flower behind his ear, then examines his handiwork. “Cute,” he says, and Johnny huffs out a laugh, embarrassed.

“But there was a problem,” He continues, winding his hand into the crook of Johnny’s elbow again, “The woman he’d fallen in love with had magic beyond anything he could have dreamed of. She was chaotic, powerful, and beautiful.”

“A lethal combination,” Johnny comments.

“Especially because she didn’t want to be taken from her home,” Ten agrees, “She had given her heart to another, long ago. When she was taken to the realm of the dragons, she became resentful of her captor. When he tried to touch her, she struck him so hard he bled. His blood would become the seeds of the trees that border the palace gardens. When he tried to speak to her, she bit back, so hard that he dissolved into crying. His tears became the rivers that flow through the Sky Kingdom among the clouds. Their one-sided love gave the barren clouds life, though violently.”

“That sounds horrible.” Johnny frowns, “On both their parts.”

“While this went on, the humans down here fought each other continuously, over power and land and magic, and the magic wielders had mostly killed each other off. Magic became a rare thing, given to only some, instead of all.”

“Like me,” Johnny says, flexing his fingers.

“Like you,” Ten nods, “And when the woman finally came back from the Sky Kingdom, she found her lover dead, as well as the rest of her loved ones and family. So, she sought revenge. She stripped most of the dragons of their wings, of their bodies, and forced them into human form. With the youngest dragon, the one who had fallen in love with her, who had become their king, she went to kill. But when she found him in his palace, the first dragon king, she found that in the years of avoiding and scorning him, she had grown to care for him, in a twisted, thorny way. She couldn’t kill him. Instead, she doomed him and the rest of his line to never find a peaceful, simple love.”

Ten smiles then, white teeth shining even in the dark. “And so, from then on, the ones in line to be the next Dragon King have always had strange, complicated lives. My line is full of unrequited love and hateful marriages. My own mother died giving birth to me, leaving my father devastated.”

Johnny feels a chill settle into his bones. “Why are you telling me this? Why now, right before we’re supposed to be married?”

“I’m saying,” Ten whispers, a sad smile curving on his full lips, “I don’t want to be like that. I want to break the mold. I don’t want to be unhappy with you. Besides, it’s all legend anyways. Arranged marriages are like asking for unhappy love lives, but I don’t want that kind of life. I’m saying that I want to be open to you in every way. I want to fall in love.”

Johnny moves instinctively, curling a hand around Ten’s smooth cheek. His skin feels like the petals of a flower, soft under his fingers. “And the feeling you had,” Johnny breathes, tilting Ten’s chin up. He looks so beautiful in the dying light, long lashes fluttering when he blinks, dark, smoky eyes staring into Johnny’s. It’s a face he adores.

“From the moment you first said my name,” Ten says, turning his eyes to the ground shyly, “There was something more there. Something in your eyes that awoke when you saw me. I don’t know if you know it yet, but there’s something here. Something more than I can understand yet. This potential, it’s growing inside us like the roots of a tree, until we’ll be tied together, inseparably.”

“You think we’ll fall in love,” Johnny says slowly, thumb smoothing over the highest point of Ten’s cheek. “ _You_ want to fall in love with me.”

“Was I too bold?” Ten asks, making to step away. Before he can, Johnny tightens his grip on his face slightly, holds him in place.

“No,” Johnny says quickly, “No, it’s just… strange. I’d just never imagined.”

“Unless… your heart belongs to another,” Ten says quietly, reaching up to wrap both his hands around Johnny’s wrist. “The point of the story was that unwilling hearts cannot be stolen away. If your love is not mine to have, I want to know now.”

Johnny feels his stomach churn uncomfortably. His heart belongs fully to Ten. Just not _this_ Ten. Then again, this Ten is practically the same as his Ten, and he can’t say he loves someone else. Maybe the Raven King could learn to love the Ten in front of him.

And as far as Johnny knows, his Ten isn’t here, won’t lose anything from this. And Ten deserves love, no matter what form or dimension he is in.

He says, “My heart belongs to you, Ten.”

Then, before his brain can scream at him that it’s a terrible idea, he leans down, tipping Ten’s chin up further, angling his face up, and brushes their lips together.

Ten’s mouth tastes like sweet wine and something fundamentally _Ten_ , a familiar taste that has heat rushing into Johnny’s body.

When he pulls away, Ten’s face is flushed again, and he presses his fingers to his glistening lips in surprise. “Oh,” he sighs softly, eyes dropping shut for a moment. “Oh, that was very nice.”

“Can I do it again?” Johnny asks hesitantly. Half of him advises him to leave before things get to heated, before he can’t stop the dizzying, honeyed kisses, and half of him tells him to pull Ten closer, hoist him up and carry him inside.

Before he can decide, another voice chimes from down the path, “Your highness!”

Taeyong walks up to them briskly, looking very visibly flustered, but Johnny thinks it has more to do with Jaehyun following after him more than finding Ten.

“Ah,” Ten says, disappointment bleeding into his voice, “Yong. You’re back early.”

“Perhaps you were just preoccupied,” Taeyong says, shooting a pointed look to Johnny. “It’s been a good amount of time.”

“I guess time got away from us,” Johnny says lamely.

Jaehyun narrows his eyes at him. “We should get going,” he says, more to Ten than Johnny. “There’s a lot going on tomorrow.”

“Right,” Johnny agrees, lets Jaehyun take his wrist and tug him away. “Goodnight, Ten.”

“Tomorrow,” Ten says it like a promise, and then Taeyong grabs his hand, drags him the opposite direction into the building.

As they begin making their way back to Johnny’s quarters, Jaehyun says, confusion evident in his voice, “Why do you look like a lovesick idiot?”

“It’s him,” Johnny says, “Of course, it just had to be him.”

“Because you _are_ a lovesick idiot,” Jaehyun answers his own question. “He’s the one you’ve been in love with for years, isn’t he?”

“This dream is getting vindictive,” Johnny says dryly. “What a fucking sadist.”

As they walk into Johnny’s bedchamber, he allows the servants to strip him down. When he’s naked save for a thin robe they put around him and the room’s empty again, he turns to Jaehyun again. “I can’t just marry him, can I? He’s supposed to marry the Raven King. He _wants_ the Raven King.”

Jaehyun sighs deeply. “You are the Raven King,” he reminds, “Even if you aren’t from here, you are him and he is you. He can’t fall in love with someone he’s never met, and since you’re the one here, you must marry him.”

“I know that! I know, on the baser level, but I just… I don’t want him to fall in love with me when I can’t love him back. I don’t want to hurt him.”

Jaehyun bites his lip. “If the king doesn’t… I mean, if he isn’t coming back any time soon, you need to fulfill his duties. I know you think your life here and there are completely separate, but they must be intertwined somehow, if we all ended up here and there. If you are him, he is you. On some level, you must be the Raven King.”

He’s right, as he always is. Johnny squeezes his eyes shut, then opens them slowly. “I don’t want to hurt him,” he repeats.

“You won’t,” Jaehyun says, face softening, “You’re not going to. You’re not that kind of person. No matter where you’re from, you could never be that kind of person. You’re a kind man. Now please sleep so you don’t look like death on your own wedding day.”

“You wound me.” Obediently, Johnny sits on the low platform bed. It’s a foreign object, but he slides under the soft blanket and finds himself comfortable.

“If you need me,” Jaehyun says dryly, “Please try not to.”

“Haha,” Johnny deadpans. Then, the last lantern light goes out, and Jaehyun slips from the room.

Johnny’s mind is working too fast, trying to process and analyze the events of the day. It’s all too much to take in at once.

He closes his eyes, tries to empty his mind, and goes to sleep thinking about honeyed voices and soft lips, twisting dances and great, beating wings.

-

Johnny wakes up disoriented and naked.

He sits up, slightly scared as to what he will find around him, and to his utter surprise, he’s in his room. Not the Raven King’s chamber, but his bedroom. The one with his iPhone charging next to his bed, sweatpants in a pool on the floor from where he’d discarded them the night before, his university pullover tosses over his desk chair.

Distantly, from the kitchen, he hears voices.

He shoves his legs into the sweatpants, pulling them up his hips, and practically sprints to the door, slamming it open and loping to the kitchen.

Ten’s standing at the counter, dressed in his clothing from their hookup the previous night, talking to Jaehyun, who doesn’t have wings and looks like he just woke up. His eyes are dark.

“Morning!” Ten calls cheerfully.

“Wait,” Johnny says, completely out of his element, “Your eyes are normal again. Jae’s not… you don’t have wings, do you?”

“What are you talking about, John?” Ten asks, eyebrows furrowing, “Are you sick or something?”

He moves forward, across the kitchen, reaching up to press the back of his palm against Johnny’s neck, then up to his forehead. “You don’t feel warm,” he frowns, “Are you okay?”

Jaehyun’s also looking at him warily from over the rim of his coffee mug, and Johnny realizes how peculiar he must seem in their eyes. No, there are no dragons or people with bird wings here. Only college essays and working at a shitty sandwich shop and their TV being left on all night by accident. There’s no way all that could have been real.

He takes a deep breath, then says, “I had a really weird dream.”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun scoffs, turning back to his coffee, “I can tell. Dude, you need to calm down about midterms. You’ll be fine, you paid more attention than anyone else in class.”

Johnny blinks. “Right,” he says, still somewhat shaken up, “Midterms. It’s probably just stress.”

“Do you want to come over tonight?” Ten asks, pouring himself another cup of coffee, “We can watch shitty horror movies and just hang out and destress. I’ll even buy those face masks that make your skin look like you haven’t gone through puberty yet.”

“Fuck you,” Johnny says weakly, “My skin’s great.”

“Of course, it is, honey,” Ten says, gently patting his cheek. “Now go grab my phone because I left it next to your bed and I need to get going.”

“Fine,” Johnny shuffles towards his room again.

Surely, it had to have been a dream. It’s foolish of him to think otherwise. Even now, thinking about it, the memories fade slowly, and it’s getting easier and easier to believe that it was all just a weirdly realistic dream. A lucid dream, if he remembers correctly from his freshman year psychology elective. He’s a grown man. There’s no reason for him to believe in magic, dragons, or kingdoms designed after birds.

A dream. A strange, beautiful, fantastical dream, but a dream nonetheless.

He shakes the sheets out, finds Ten’s phone by his pillow. He picks it up, and under it, something tiny and crushed remains on the sheets.

Johnny’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and disbelief. He peels the object off the bedsheets, eyes widening when he realizes what it is. The little purple wildflower.


	3. First Night

Johnny has always been levelheaded, steadier in nature compared to most of his friends.

Which is exactly why he sits in the living room for over an hour, purple wildflower held between his fingers, trying to understand what is happening.

A more whimsical, childish part of him wants to believe it had been real. The evidence is right in front of him; a crystal-clear memory of the past day’s events, as well as the flower. Then again, the logical side of his brain creeps into the forefront of his mind to whisper doubt and he’s confused all over again.

Their living room is painfully mundane compared to the exquisite intricacies of the palace. It is their old worn out suede couch and unopened bills spilling across the coffee table. Jaehyun has left the TV on to some anime Johnny can’t be bothered to recognize.

And yet, the lackluster apartment somehow feels more artificial than a world with magic and dragons.

There are no plausible explanations he can draw except that it had, undoubtably, been real.

Already, the flower is beginning to wilt in his hands, the edges darkening and curling together.

He doesn’t realize how long he’s been sitting in the same place until his phone buzzes loudly against the coffee table and he’s startled out of his stupor. He reaches for it, reads the name across the screen.

“What?” he answers, then immediately realizes how irritated he sounds, and attempts to pull himself together. “What’s up?”

Taeil’s voice sounds over the line, “ _I’m outside_. _Please tell me you’re ready and that we’re not going to be late again._ ”

Taeil is his only solace at his paid internship, which otherwise kind of fucking sucks, because they don’t pay that well and the work is mind-numbingly boring.

He’d completely forgotten about work, too enveloped in his thoughts about the flower and the other world.

He scrambles to make himself look presentable, calling into the phone, “I’ll be down in five, hang on.”

Before Taeil can reprimand him anymore, he hangs up and throws his phone towards the couch, then steels his nerves for a long, boring day of work.

-

Work is as awful as ever, and Johnny’s so distracted all day by thoughts of magic and Ten in his golden headpiece that he messes up the copies he’s supposed to make, then puts too much sugar in his coffee and ends up having to dump it out in the sink.

By the time he gets out of the office, the sun is beginning to set and Taeil sidles up to him again. He makes a sympathetic noise at Johnny’s tired face and says, “At least it’s Friday, right?”

“I guess,” Johnny says, remembering the paper he has due next week.

It’s not that he minds being busy, but life’s getting a bit hectic with his last semester of university and his internship at the same time, and now this whole dream thing taking up his time. He rubs a hand over his face and tries for a weak smile. “Just one more semester to go.”

He leaves Taeil at the mouth of the subway station. He’d gotten a text from Ten during his lunch break asking if he would come over or not, and Ten’s apartment is nowhere near the subway, so he’s going to have to get a cab.

The ride there is thankfully short, and the sun’s just set by the time Johnny makes his way inside and across the lobby to the elevators.

When he knocks, Taeyong is the one who slides the door open. He’s disheveled, glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose, hair a mess, dark roots showing through the candy floss pink, and when he tucks a lock of it behind his ear, Johnny stares at his ears. His very normal, not pointy ears.

“Are you going to come in?” Taeyong asks, crossing his arms in front of his chest, hip against the doorframe.

Johnny blinks. He’s been staring.

“Yeah,” he says, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Yeah, sorry, it’s been a long day.”

The inside of Ten and Taeyong’s apartment is always neat, unlike his own. Taeyong is meticulously organized, and as a result, picks up after Ten. The only room that Johnny doesn’t feel like he’s messing up whenever he’s inside it is Ten’s room, which has clothing spilling out of the hamper, books stacked haphazardly around his desk, and a constantly unmade bed.

An unmade bed that Ten is currently sprawled across, phone in his hands.

“Look at this,” he says by way of greeting when he sees Johnny, holding up the screen in his direction. On the screen, there’s a picture of someone’s dick. Johnny squints. It’s a pretty nice dick, as they go.

“Okay?” he says slowly, dropping his jacket on Ten’s chair. “I guess it’s an okay dick pic.”

“No,” Ten says impatiently, “I know it’s nice, but the point is that I don’t want it and sending it to me isn’t going to make me take him back.”

“No,” Johnny agrees, “You’re definitely not going to take him back.”

Ten never hooks up with the same person again once he’s broken up with them.

He sighs, drops the phone on the mattress, and sits up. “Wanna make out?” he asks.

Johnny’s insides sink even as he says, “Sure.”

-

The room he wakes up in is lit only by gas lanterns, which bathe everything in their dim golden light. He blinks, trying to grasp his bearings.

It is the bed chamber of the Raven King, and at the foot of his bed, Jaehyun has wings again. He remembers going to sleep in Ten’s bed the night before, too tired to make it all the way back to his own apartment.

“Oh,” he groans, dragging a hand through his hair, “back to this.”

Jaehyun only arches a dark brow and gives him an unimpressed look. “I take it you still haven’t recovered your memories?”

“I swear, I’m going to get whiplash trying to keep up.” He grumbles, reluctantly pulling himself off the warm mattress. “Last time I woke up, I was back home. Then I went to sleep again, and I wake up here.”

“A day hasn’t passed here,” Jaehyun informs him. “Maybe the universe just wants to maximize your discomfort.”

“Trust me, I’ll be very uncomfortable when I have to marry someone I only met yesterday.”

Jaehyun gives him a once over with sharp eyes. “Better get over it quickly,” he advises, “the wedding ceremony is held when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.”

At his questioning look, Jaehyun explains, “I told you the Dragon Prince is blessed with the favor of fire, didn’t I? His magic is strongest under the sun. In turn, yours is more powerful during the nighttime.”

“About that,” Johnny begins, unsure how to ask the question that’s been on the brim of his mouth for the past day. If he has magic, he has no idea how to use it. “I don’t know how to access my magic, if I even have any. Maybe that was a Raven King exclusive power.”

“But you are the Raven King.”

“Right,” Johnny says, sounding unconvincing even to himself. “I’m the Raven King.”

Maybe if he says it enough times, it will be believable.

-

A wedding. An actual binding, real wedding.

Johnny can’t grasp it no matter how hard he tries. Even as he bathes in the big steamy chamber, even as servants spend time drying his hair and brushing it off his face.

He’s going to marry Ten in a few short hours.

They sweep cold golden paint over the high points of his face, over his eyelids and a single stripe from his lower lip down his chin. Johnny blinks at his reflection, unused to the effect. The paint elongates his features, and paired with the strange glint of his eyes, he looks strange. The differences are subtle, but there’s no denying that he’s not the same as the overworked college kid from the other world.

“Your wings stay away,” Jaehyun says from where he’s leaning against the wall. “For the ceremony, at least, but take them out again so I know you remember how.”

Right. Trying very hard not to feel like he’s overcompensating, Johnny wills the enormous wings back into existence. This time, they appear with almost no effort, his mind barely brushing the idea before they sprout from his shoulder blades, heavy and rustling and so _real_ that it takes his breath away.

He glances back at his reflection. If the eerie paint and eyes hadn’t done it, the wings rev it up a step further, turning him unmistakably inhuman.

”Now try putting them away again,” Jaehyun says, and Johnny immediately wills them away. “Excellent.”

Johnny keeps staring into the glass at where the large wings had been, their glossy dark feathers taking up so much of the reflection. It’s like they’d never existed at all.

“Are you going to keep standing there staring at yourself or are you going to get dressed?” Jaehyun muses, holding what must be Johnny’s outfit over the crook of his arm.

He turns, finds several pieces of clothing shoved into his arms. He sets them down on the chaise lounge, then neatly unties the loose silky robe he’s wearing with one stroke. It pools down around his ankles, and Johnny steps out. Being naked around Jaehyun must be a regular thing-it’s already pretty normal in the other world, what with them being closer than the average pair of roommates- because Jaehyun doesn’t flinch in the slightest.

He dresses himself quickly. The attire they’ve chosen for him is less formal than the robes from the day before, plain black pants that make his long legs look even longer, another satiny shirt that laces loosely in the back to allow space for his wings, if he needed them.

“Last thing.”

Before he can turn, there are two servants draping a black cloak over his shoulders. Johnny spins a little, marveling at the intricate gold embroidery, tracing curling shapes that turn into images of feathers and birds if he concentrates hard enough. The material is light, smooth against his fingers, unlike anything he’s ever felt before.

“It’s woven with magic,” Jaehyun grins at his awestruck expression. “Fit for a king.”

Johnny swallows hard. He nods slowly, still rubbing the soft fabric between his fingers. It slips against his skin like water, cool to the touch and slippery, but soft and comfortable. “It’s amazing,” he says finally.

Jaehyun smiles wider, dimple deepening in the corner of his mouth. “I’m glad. It’s something that’s been passed down to each Raven King. It’s impenetrable to magic and it should protect you from anything that may do you harm.”

Johnny stares. “No one is going to…try and do me harm, are they?”

“Probably not. Maybe.”

At his expression, Jaehyun quickly adds, “It’s not likely, you’re one of the most powerful people in the kingdom and you make decisions that are, for the most part, in the general public’s favor. There’s no reason for anyone to oppose you, but it’s a necessary precaution.”

“Isn’t that why I have you?” Johnny asks warily.

“I’m not going to be there all the time,” Jaehyun rolls his eyes. “As captain of the guard, I have my own responsibilities. I’m not here to be your guardian.”

“It’s nice to know my best friend has my back,” Johnny says weakly.

“Listen,” Jaehyun says, taking his wrist and pulling him towards the door. Johnny follows him down the hall to the door of the residence. “If anyone wanted to do you any harm, I promise you that you could do more to protect yourself than I could.”

“What kind of captain of the guard are you, then?”

“An absolutely shit one. But one that still has your back, so stop whining. I’m not going to be right there, but Mark will be.”

“Mark?” Johnny’s voice rises in surprise, “Like, your brother Mark?”

Jaehyun’s mouth twists strangely. “It hasn’t even been one day and he’s already begging to be relieved of his duty. He was assigned to watch over the priest of the sun they brought from the Sky Kingdom. Sun and moon priests aren’t exactly common. They’re born marked by their respective deities, so it’s hard to come across one. They are the ones who officiate marriages between royalty. Apparently the one they’ve brought is particularly young and hot-headed.”

“Mark’s a patient kid,” Johnny says as the guards open up the doors and let sunlight flood into the entrance hall of his residence. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“He better be,” Jaehyun mutters so darkly that Johnny has to stifle a laugh.

“So, Mark’s just following this kid around?”

“More or less. Guarding him from danger and making sure nothing goes wrong before the ceremony, as well as showing him around the palace. The usual stuff.”

“Where I’m from, all Mark does is get high and make out with his boyfriend on our sofa, so anything’s a step up.”

Jaehyun makes a strangled noise suspiciously reminiscent of a laugh and pushes him forward. “Shut up, we have to be serious. You’re getting married.”

Obediently, he snaps his mouth shut and follows Jaehyun to the center courtyard, then up the steps to the biggest building in the compound. Every inch of the main building has been cleaned, the tile floor gleaming under Johnny’s feet when he crosses the throne room and makes his way to the balcony Jaehyun points at. There are people gathered there, dressed up in the black and gold finery of the court of ravens, as well as the bright crimson of the Sky Kingdom.

“I have to go,” Jaehyun murmurs low enough so only Johnny can hear it, “You can go sit down over there for now. I’ll see you afterwards. Good luck.” He takes Johnny’s hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “Remember,” he adds as he slips into the crowd, “You’re the king.”

Johnny lets those words ring in his head like a mantra as he steps forward onto the balcony.

There is a dais in the center of the balcony, a golden stage set with two cushioned seats for him and Ten.

An insurmountable panic is beginning to overtake him with every step, clogging up his throat and filling his belly with dread. He can’t actually get up there and get _married_.

Only, he is. He walks all the way to the dais without stumbling and sinks down onto one of the cushions. The amount of people in the courtyard far below is dizzying to see, and all their attention is focused solely on him.

The moment he’s sitting down, they erupt into cheers, and Johnny flinches a little at the noise, peering warily over the edge of the balcony as far as he can see.

From this high up, he can see beyond the palace. Across the compound and passed the gate, he sees the beginnings of a large forest in one direction. It’s where he’d woken up the first day.

In the other direction, there is a village, full of tiled roofs and empty, the populace spilling into the courtyard below.

The vastness of the land takes him by surprise. In the back of his mind, he’d considered it a dream up until this point. The realness of the little rickety houses, of the town square, the sprawl of the forest over the gates. It’s too much to all be in his head.

At that moment, the cushion shifts beside him as Ten sits down, and the distraction keeps him from getting caught up in his thoughts.

Ten is clad in red again today, though the fabric is inlaid with so many gold threads that it flashes two-toned every time he moves. He glances up at Johnny briefly, letting a soft smile slip onto his face for a moment before schooling himself back into a more formal, solemn expression.

The ceremony is mainly speaking and it winds up dragging on longer than Johnny had expected. The speaker behind them recalls the strength of both kingdoms, the history between them, and finally, the alliance they are to form going forward. It should be interesting, but Ten has a hand resting on Johnny’s knee, and he keeps using his thumb to rub circles into Johnny’s skin, and even through the fabric of his pants, Johnny feels the faint scratch of desire blossom his chest.

Finally, when Johnny is about to knock Ten’s hand away, the speaker goes silent.

“We call upon the moon and the sun today,” a soft, silvery voice says from behind them. The voice is so familiar, it makes Johnny itch to turn and face the speaker. “The blessed of the sun and one marked by the moon, from each of the courts bear witness to this ceremony.”

“Pick up your binding ribbon, Raven King,” the man says, and Johnny snaps to attention. Directly in front of him, there is a red silken ribbon, laid out so it stretches from him to Ten.

Johnny lifts the red ribbon. It’s slippery between his fingers, as cool as water to the touch.

Someone shifts into his line of vision. Johnny blinks. It’s Jaehyun’s brother’s boyfriend.

Donghyuck has gold paint along the planes of his face the same way Johnny does, but it looks a thousand times more flattering on his sun-kissed skin. He kneels down in front of Johnny and takes his hand. He winds the ribbon around Johnny’s hand twice, and in his peripheral vision, Johnny sees someone do the same to Ten. He must be the priest of the sun Jaehyun was talking about.

“May the sun accept this humble offering,” he murmurs, “May you be bound.”

Johnny sees a glint of silver and then there’s a stinging pain across his palm. Donghyuck holds fast to his hand even when he flinches and holds a tiny golden bowl under the cut. Johnny hears the quiet splatter of blood falling into the bowl.

Donghyuck ducks down, presses his lips to Johnny’s palm in a kiss that’s so quick, Johnny’s would think he imagined it if not for the smear of red across Donghyuck’s mouth.

To his left, there is another priest kneeling in front of Ten, doing the same thing. When he looks up, Johnny sees that it’s Taeil.

It’s fitting for the two of them. The moon and the sun.

Then, slowly, the ribbon is unwound from his hand.

Johnny flexes his fingers, expecting a flare of pain in his hand from the cut. Instead, he feels nothing. His palm is still sticky with blood, but when he turns it over, it’s unharmed, is if it never happened.

Johnny looks incredulously at Donghyuck, who raises an eyebrow at him and then averts his eyes. “The sun wills it, and so it shall be.”

“The moon binds you together,” Taeil chimes in, “So it shall be.”

Both Donghyuck and Taeil tip their bowls together, blood seeping down into another bowl and mixing together.

Ten dips his nimble fingers into the bowl when it’s offered to him and turns to Johnny. He brings his hand to Johnny’s face and paints a line across the bridge of his nose. “I am bound.”

When the bowl is offered to Johnny, he quickly follows along, dipping into the liquid. It’s still warm against his fingers, though the stripe across his face is quickly cooling.

He lifts his hand, sweeps his fingers along Ten’s face in the same fashion. They leave a scarlet line across his face, dangerously bright. He takes a deep breath.

“I am bound.”

-

The rest of the day passes in a blur of celebration and honeyed wine. There are dancers and entertainers that spin across wide tiled floors, as well as dishes heaping with food Johnny has never heard of, and magicians who do actual magic, breathing fire and disappearing into thin air.

When one fire magician gets particularly close to Johnny, bowing before the throne and making her long hair erupt into flame, Ten snorts quietly and shifts, muttering under his breath, “I could do that in my sleep.”

He finds Ten’s jealousy endearing, somehow. “Show me some time,” he finds himself whispering back.

Ten’s eyes go wide in surprise, but he nods nonetheless. “Of course,” he says, “Anytime.”

However, that’s the extent of their interaction all day. Though they’re seated next to each other, they’re both occupied by the things before them, and then as night falls and the celebrations become deep beating drums and twisting bodies in firelight, Taeyong comes and kneels before them.

“Is it time already?” Ten asks, shock lighting up his face.

“Time for what?”

Taeyong fixes him with a strangely guarded look. “The consummation ceremony, of course.”

Trust Jaehyun to leave out the most important thing about this whole ordeal.

-

Johnny picks his way through the crowd after Ten is gone, searching frantically for Jaehyun. The closest thing he can find is Mark, a scowl set deep on his face, sitting down next to a table where Donghyuck is drinking deeply from a bowl of rice wine.

“What’s wrong?” Johnny asks, a smile breaking out despite the panic in his mind. Mark looks like a petulant child, arms crossed tightly across his chest.

Immediately, Mark scrambles to his feet and straightens his disheveled black shirt and the sheath at his waist, the golden hilt of a sword glinting next to his sleeve. “Nothing, my king.” He says hastily.

Johnny raises an eyebrow, stares him down evenly until Mark’s expression faulters. “Okay, not nothing. The sun priest is a handful. He won’t stop wandering away and drinking too much and giving me false prophecies. It’s driving me a bit insane.”

“Your problem, brave knight,” Donghyuck cuts in then, all blown pupils and a loose, drunk grin, “Is that you’re much too uptight. We must change with the seasons, grow into the future. What if I told you right now that you were going to die tomorrow? Would you still be so uptight, or would you live your life to the best of your ability?”

Mark throws him a withering glare. “I’m not going to die tomorrow, so there’s no need to make a fool of myself. Maybe you should take notes.”

“New kings,” Donghyuck sings, “False kings and dreamers and claws like dragons. All this excitement is good for the blood, wouldn’t you agree, knight?”

Johnny’s blood has gone cold.

Donghyuck throws him a lopsided smile. “What about you, King of ravens? Will you drink with me in place of this dull knight?”

“I-“

Before Johnny can respond, someone catches his arm and drags him away. “By the gods, Johnny,” Jaehyun is saying in a tight, controlled voice that tells Johnny he’s furious, “Do you have to disappear every time something important happens? If you don’t go consummate your marriage the townspeople will begin rioting tomorrow.”

“That priest- Donghyuck,” Johnny says, desperately twisting his arm in Jaehyun’s grip, “Jae, let me go, he said something about, about false kings and dreams, I need to ask him what he meant.”

“You need to do your _duty_ and consummate your marriage,” Jaehyun says exasperatedly, tugging him through the door into an antechamber. “He will be here tomorrow.”

“But will I?” Johnny whispers, “Why am I here, Jaehyun? I need to know, and if Donghyuck has something to do with it or knows something, I have to find out.”

Jaehyun bites his lip. “Ten is waiting for you,” he softens his voice a great deal, “He’s waiting for you all alone because no one is allowed to be there during the ceremony. You can’t keep him waiting. He’s been waiting for this moment for years.”

Half of Johnny wants to sprint back into the crowded throne room, weave his way through the people and confront Donghyuck. The other half is undoubtedly drawn to Ten.

Jaehyun holds a hand out, pale eyes shining silver.

Johnny takes it.

-

Johnny finds Ten in the bathing chamber, chin-deep in the steaming water.

He’s alone for once, no Taeyong to hover nervously over him, no servants kneeling in the corners of the room. There hadn’t been any guards inside either. The whole residence is empty, his footsteps echoing when he’d walked down the hall, past his bedchamber to the bathing room.

The realization comes to him like a blow to the face. They’re married. Bound together with magic and law and the promise to join their kingdoms. It’s a crushing weight on his shoulders suddenly.

Ten looks at him with heavy, kohl lined eyes, then rises up just enough to expose the tops of his shoulders. “I promised I would show you,” he says with a small smile playing over his lips. Raising one hand from the water, he holds it up.

“It works when you’re wet?” Johnny asks skeptically. He takes a washcloth from a basin next to the pool, wipes blood and paint off his face. He’s never had great skin, and he knows it’s just going to be worse from having the mixture on his face all day.

“It’s called magic for a reason,” Ten replies, holding his palm up higher. In the center of it, a slow, flickering flame begins to burn, appearing out of nowhere. It’s dark like cooling blood, a tinge of rich blue in the very heart of the fire.

Johnny sheds the cloak, then loosens the strings holding his shirt together. Ten doesn’t avert his eyes in the slightest.

That’s fine. Johnny’s been naked in front of him enough times that this doesn’t feel embarrassing anymore. He lets his shirt drop to the floor, then begins on the pants. It’s only then that Ten lowers his gaze back to the water and lets his hand drop, extinguishing the flame with a curl of his fist.

“I saw something,” Johnny says, curiosity getting the better of him. “In your sleeve when it pushed up by accident yesterday. What is it?”

Very quietly, Ten whispers, “Ah, so you saw it.” He rises from the bath slowly, limb by limb, the water running off him in rivulets, pooling at his collarbones then flowing over, and the flash of color Johnny had spotted by his wrist is revealed in its entirety.

A long, curling dragon, twisting up the length of his right arm and then curved over his shoulder to cascade down his back, meticulous to the smallest red scale. With every one of Ten’s movements, it gleams and ripples like it’s alive, from the flashing tail inked into the inside of Ten’s wrist to the great maw of the beast, open to reveal sharp, delicate fangs across his shoulder blade. The colorwork is next to impossible, alive with magic and scales that catch the light like they’re real.

For a moment, all Johnny can do is stare and try to understand the complex, tightly coiled dragon, to make sense of its many colors and shining scales, but then Ten says softly, “It is the mark of my clan. You can touch… if you want.”

Johnny rips his eyes from the tattoo and forces himself to focus on Ten’s face. His eyes are dark with something unreckoned, pupils wavering like the rich black color wants to spill over into the rest of his eye. Johnny swallows hard. “I’ll stop hiding if you do,” he says.

Ten’s eyes slip shut, long lashes glimmering with droplets of water, and when he opens them again, they’re all black, intense in their focus on Johnny. Then he lets the ghost of a smile fall onto his mouth. “Your turn.”

Johnny shifts his shoulders, rolls them back, and imagines the wings springing forth, unfurling after being tucked away for so long. He’d put them away after the ceremony. They appear as easily as taking a breath, curving over his shoulders, and the weight of them nearly makes him stagger.

Ten reaches out tentative hand, slender fingers trembling in the air between them. Then, the pads of his fingers brush against feather, and Johnny shudders under the touch, bites the inside of his cheek hard to keep in the sigh of pleasure rising up his throat. It’s as if his wings are full of nerve endings, sensation dancing along the path Ten traces with his finger.

Ten’s face is awestruck, lips parted, eyes wide with wonder, and he brings his hand to Johnny’s face then, curling his palm over his cheek. “Strange,” he breathes, “A strange, beautiful thing.”

“Me?”

“Us.” Ten’s eyes crinkle with his smile.

Johnny takes Ten’s thin wrist in his hand, pulls his hand down away from his face and presses a kiss to the center of his palm. Like himself, there’s no trace of the cut Taeil had made earlier that day.

Ten stares at him through heavy lidded eyes, breath coming harsh when Johnny drags his mouth up to press to his wrist instead, right over the flickering iridescent tail of the dragon. He smells like the rosewater and fragrant oils from the bathing pool, and it makes heat flood through Johnny’s body.

“How can everything about someone be so beautiful?” Johnny wonders aloud, using his grip on Ten’s wrist to pull him closer. “How can I want you this much?”

“Oh,” Ten sighs, eyes fluttering shut at last. “You’re too charming for your own good.”

“You’re too pretty for yours,” Johnny counters, taking pleasure in the way Ten’s cheeks warm.

Ten ducks his head shyly, and the gesture is so familiar that Johnny can’t help but catch his narrow chin between his fingers, lifting his face. “What is it?” he breathes.

Ten’s eyes widen, searching Johnny’s face frantically. Finally, looking away, the blush rises on his face and he whispers, “I am untouched.”

It takes a second, but then what he’d said clicks into place in Johnny’s head. “Oh,” he says, surprise tinging his voice.

Ten’s been sleeping around as long as Johnny’s known him. Even their first time, as sloppy as it had been, had been with experience under both their belts. In no alternate universe, in no other world had he ever thought Ten would be a _virgin_.

“But there’s a consummation ceremony,” Johnny realizes, and it’s like the weight of the words hit him all at once. “We have to sleep together.”

Ten’s mouth twists in wry amusement. “Well, don’t you look eager.”

“It’s not that, not at all. I just-“ Johnny hesitates, unsure how to phrase his thoughts. On one hand, no matter which version of Johnny it is sleeping with him, they’d be a stranger to Ten. If the true Raven King even exists.

“I want you to be sure,” he finishes lamely.

“Can I be honest with you?” Ten asks, inky lashes lowering over his dark eyes. When Johnny nods, he continues, “On a physical level, I am beyond attracted to you. Your presence, the way you hold yourself, they’re both appealing to me. I am completely content fulfilling the requirement. I will likely even enjoy it, despite what the crazy old nursemaids of the Dragon Court always told me.”

Johnny swallows. “What did they always tell you?”

“That it would be uncomfortable, maybe for the both of us. That it’s important to fake pleasure, if necessary.”

Johnny’s never seen Ten fake it. Call it off in the middle, not wanting to go all the way, sure. Declare that he doesn’t need to come and pull away from Johnny’s arms, even. But he’s never been anything short of brutally honest, especially when he doesn’t like something.

“Don’t fake anything,” Johnny says, catching Ten’s wrist between his fingers. “Let me show you that you don’t have to fake it.”

He rubs his thumb into the tail of the dragon, tracing over the curling appendage. The color of it is vibrant and alive against his skin. It can’t be a normal tattoo. He’s never seen one so bright, so alive. It must be magic.

Ten’s body is so familiar, the same curves and dips that Johnny’s palms fit to, the same sweet voice when his lips fall open into a small pleased noise. And then there are differences. Ten’s sharp all-black eyes, the curling dragon down his back. The way he trembles when Johnny leans down, presses their mouths together.

This is only their second kiss, but it’s so different from their first. There’s no hesitation this time, only an intense, burning desire that makes Johnny dizzy with want, and he pulls Ten closer, fingers curling around his jaw to coax his mouth open with his tongue.

Ten makes a quiet noise in the back of his throat, his own hands slipping up to wrap around Johnny’s wrists. He sighs against Johnny’s mouth, whispers, “You’re a good kisser.”

Johnny can’t help the burst of laughter that escapes his mouth. It’s not so much that he’s a good kisser, but that he’s so used to kissing Ten that he knows what he likes.

“Not just a good kisser,” he teases, letting his hands slide down to curl around the curve of Ten’s ass to pull their bodies together.

Ten flushes at the words, eyes skimming down Johnny’s collarbone to his chest. “I figured,” he mumbles softly. Then suddenly, Ten’s slender hands reach up and cup his cheeks between his palms. “Take me to bed, then.”

Johnny feels desire ripple through him, hot and fresh. He grabs Ten’s wrists one by one and pulls them from his face to his shoulders. “Hold on tight,” he advises, and reaches for Ten’s hips.

Ten opens his mouth, eyes wide with confusion, but Johnny takes a hold of his waist and hoists him up. Automatically, a panicked noise rips from his mouth, legs quickly wrapping around Johnny’s hips, arms tightening around his neck.

“You-“ he sputters out, “You’re insane!”

Johnny grins, holding onto his thighs to keep him steady. “Don’t pretend you don’t like it,” he teases.

Ten flushes deep red, averts his eyes quickly. His limbs, Johnny notes with some satisfaction, are still wound tight around him.

Ten’s still wet from the bathing pool, but his body burns unnaturally warm against Johnny’s. Thankfully, Ten is just as small and light in this reality, and it doesn’t take much to carry him past the threshold of the chamber and into Johnny’s own private rooms.

As soon as the heavy wooden door is shut behind them, Johnny presses Ten against it, presses their mouths together in a messy, openmouthed kiss that’s more tongue than lip.

Ten kisses in a strange mixture of both overeager and hesitant, drawing back from Johnny’s tongue, but then licking into the older boy’s mouth a second later. Johnny pulls back a little and throws him a questioning look. “You okay?” he asks on a whim, loosening his hold on Ten’s waist and lowering him to the ground.

Ten bites his lip and shrugs slowly. “Will it hurt like they say it does?”

“No,” Johnny says immediately, “No, of course not. If you’re tense, it may be uncomfortable, but it won’t hurt.”

Ten exhales, his shoulders slumping. “Okay,” he says after a second, “I’ll trust you.”

Johnny takes his narrow chin between his fingers again, tilts his face up into a deep kiss. Ten’s hands creep over his hips to his stomach, then down until they press tentatively to the base of his cock.

“Can I?” he asks against Johnny’s lips, and when Johnny groans an approval back, he curls his fingers around the length. Ten must run a higher body temperature than him, because the warmth of his skin is nearly unbearable, and Johnny pulls back once again in time to see little, barely-visible tendrils of steam curl off of Ten’s shoulders.

“You know I burn, right?”

Ten bursts into giggles, pushes him back and makes the water dry right off his skin. “I’ll keep it in check,” he promises as soon as his hair is soft and dry and reaches for Johnny again. He stifles the flames of half the lanterns in the room until they’re both in half-shadow, then beckons Johnny towards the wide bed.

Even as Johnny lets Ten pull him onto the bed and crawl into his lap, he lets his gaze wander around the room, searching for the inevitable things they will need. No matter how supernaturally fierce the Dragon Prince claims to be, there’s no way Johnny is comfortable doing this without any kind of lubricant.

Ten catches his face in his hands, the sharp tips of his nails digging stinging points into Johnny’s face. His hands burn a trail all the way down Johnny’s chest back down to his dick, and Ten demands in a low voice, “Kiss me again.”

Johnny obliges easily, licking deep into his mouth as Ten works his fist down the length of his cock, his high body temperature making his grip borderline excruciating. His lips work down the line of Ten’s jaw to his throat, then lower still to lick over the edge of his collarbone. When he bites down, Ten moans brokenly and arches up under him, grinding their hips together slow and messy.

Johnny pulls away from the bruise he’s sucking into Ten’s collarbone and does a quick scan of the room around them. On a table by the bed, there’s a long bronze decanter and an empty plate next to it. He’d seen similar containers in the baths used for storing sweet floral oils.

“Lay back,” Johnny tells Ten, who’s looking down at his dick with wide, fascinated eyes. “Babe, you’re staring awfully hard.”

Ten blinks out of his stupor and looks up at him. “Am I not allowed to stare? Is it disgraceful?”

“No, but-“

“Then let me look at you if I want to.” Ten raises an eyebrow in challenge, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile, and maybe his Ten and this one are more similar than he’d originally thought.

“You have plenty of time to look.” Johnny reminds him gently. “We’re bound, remember?”

He places a hand to Ten’s warm shoulder and slowly pushes him down against the bed. Ten goes down willingly, thighs spreading of their own volition.

“This is the part I was worried about the most,” Ten admits softly, hands coming to rest on his stomach, idly tracing over iridescent ink with his fingertips.

“Don’t be,” Johnny automatically reaches out, slips their palms against each other, and intertwines their fingers together briefly to squeeze his hand reassuringly. “Let me show you.”

He reaches over, tips the decanter to pour a shallow pool of oil into the gilded plate. Johnny’s never used anything other than spit and water-based or silicone-based lubricant, but he knows this is supposed to be fine, in theory.

To his surprise, the oil isn’t cold like lube always tends to be when he dips two fingers into it. It’s slick when he rubs his fingers together, maybe not as thick as normal lube, but he can make do.

“If you want,” Johnny says when he turns back to Ten, “you can fuck me.”

Ten’s ashen face goes even paler. “No,” he says immediately, “No, you’re the king, I couldn’t, I shouldn’t-“

“It’s really fine,” he assures quickly, “If it would make you less nervous. Trust me, I’ve done it before.”

Ten hesitates. “Then… maybe another night, when it’s not for the sake of ceremony.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

Ten gives him a tiny, fleeting smile, and then takes a deep breath. “Just tell me what to do,” he says finally.

“Here,” Johnny says, taking a hold of his ankle and pulling it over his shoulder. “Just relax, let me make you feel good.”

Ten takes a slow breath and nods. Then, just because he still looks rather nervous, Johnny leans down and presses a kiss to the curve of his nose.

Ten blinks several times, a flush working its way slowly but surely up his chest. Johnny drags his hands up his sides, feels Ten shudder under his palms when Johnny’s fingers catch on his nipples.

“You’re the strangest king I’ve ever met,” Ten says breathlessly, rolling up against him.

“Thank you,” Johnny says graciously, then captures his mouth into another lazy, messy kiss that leaves them both starving for air. The scent of roses makes Ten’s skin smell sweet, and Johnny drags his tongue down the length of his throat, bites down on his frantic pulse. Ten arches up against him, their hips rolling together in a careful, slow rhythm that catches the air from Johnny’s lungs.

Slowly, Johnny draws back again, then dips his hand into the oil once again. “Calm down,” he says, turning his head to press a kiss to the curve of Ten’s ankle, “We’ll take it slow.”

Johnny rubs his fingers over Ten’s hole and the younger boy makes a tiny surprised noise, his muscles clenching up. He says raggedly, “Kiss me again.”

Johnny ducks down, presses their mouths together as his fingers circle Ten’s rim, smearing oil over the crease of his ass. “This is so strange,” Ten giggles nervously into his mouth.

“Is it?” Johnny asks, smiling down at him, “Well, I suppose it must be, the first time.”

There’s more resistance than usual when he tries pressing into him, but Ten takes a deep inhale, tries to loosen up his muscles, and it’s easy enough. The second finger is more of a challenge, Ten gripping his forearm tightly when the stretch becomes too much. His palm is absolutely smoldering against Johnny’s skin, just short of uncomfortable.

“You’re tensing up,” Johnny says, carefully smoothing a hand up Ten’s flexing abdominals, “Take a deep breath and just relax for me, baby.”

It takes a second, but Ten does as he’s asked, eyes falling shut, his long lashes dark against his cheek. Johnny presses a kiss to his temple and keeps fingering him open, taking his time to slowly curl his fingers exactly how he knows will make Ten arch up against him and moan.

Johnny pushes his fingers deeper, crooks them and thrusts shallowly, and Ten takes a shuddery breath, squeezing Johnny’s wrist tight. “Good?” Johnny asks, even though he knows it is.

Ten slits his dark eyes open, the dim golden light reflecting off the inky surface eerily. “So good,” he mumbles, his hips twitching down to fuck back against Johnny’s fingers.

Once Johnny’s found what feels good, Ten opens up so easily under his long fingers, velvety warmth clamping down around his knuckles. He reaches up, curls his fingers around Ten’s flushed cock, and strokes him off until his thighs are quivering, his throat clicking dryly as he swallows down a gasp and says shakily, “Can- can I-“

“Go ahead,” Johnny says, pressing his fingers deep and letting Ten swivel his hips back onto them, “Come for me, Ten.”

Ten falls apart shuddering under him, soft, swollen mouth open in a cry, his nails indenting sharp crescents into Johnny’s forearm. The noise that spills from his mouth is sweet and broken, beautiful like the rest of him.

Even while the aftershocks send shivers through his chest, Ten sits up on his elbows and stares at him with dazed eyes. He says, “I want you inside me.”

Johnny swallows down the moan bubbling up his throat at that and nods quickly.

Ten’s all loosened limbed from his orgasm, arms draping over Johnny’s shoulders to pull him down into a messy kiss, one thigh wrapping around Johnny’s waist, the other still pulled over his shoulder. “Please,” Ten whispers against his mouth, “Fill me and make us truly bound.”

Johnny pushes into him inch by inch, his body tense with restraint. Ten’s so _hot_ around him, feverishly warm wherever their skin presses together, his insides slick and tight around Johnny’s cock.

Ten trembles all over, his lips quivering when Johnny kisses him, and his arms tighten around Johnny’s neck, holding onto him tightly so they’re pressed chest-to-chest. “It’s-“ Johnny feels his throat convulse around a hard swallow, “It’s overwhelming.”

Johnny presses another kiss to his swollen lips, curling his fingers around his hips to hold him steady. “Do you need a minute?” Johnny asks breathlessly, smoothing a hand down the length of his thigh and back up again to his hip.

“No,” Ten says so quickly that Johnny muffles a laugh into his shoulder. “Don’t laugh at me,” he pouts.

“I’m sorry,” Johnny says as sincerely as he can, “But it diffused the tension, didn’t it?”

Ten narrows his eyes. “Sly,” he comments, nudging Johnny’s cheek with the side of his heel. “But are you going to fuck me or keep making fun of me?”

In response, Johnny rolls their hips together and Ten bites back a gasp, a hand clamping down over his mouth.

Even this is so different. Ten keeps his hand over his mouth to muffle any noises that threaten so spill over, his eyes screwed shut, legs trembling where they’re wrapped around Johnny’s body. Johnny grabs his wrist, gently pulls his hand off his mouth. “There’s no one here,” he reminds him.

“You’re here,” Ten bites back, a flush rising steadily in his cheeks. Johnny fucks him in a slow, easy rhythm that has Ten’s hands scrabbling for purchase in the soft silken sheets, and Johnny loves the way he arches up against him, sweat beading along his temple, plush mouth open in a cry of his name.

“And I want to hear you,” Johnny whispers, leaning down to kiss him again. Ten kisses back with a desperate hunger, the inside of his mouth as feverishly hot as the rest of him. He drags his tongue from Johnny’s lower lip to his jaw, biting down at the soft skin of his throat, and it makes Johnny moan in a sick combination of pain and pleasure that clouds over his mind like thick, slow honey.

“Harder,” Ten murmurs into his pulse, and Johnny grabs his thigh, pulls it away from his body to spread his legs open further. Ten groans at the stretch, his arms tightening almost painfully around Johnny’s shoulders.

Everything is an unbearable throbbing ache, and Johnny slides nearly all the way out, lets Ten have a second to breathe, then pulls him back down on his cock, thrusting back into him in one hard snap that has Ten crying out in surprise. 

 Ten’s refractory period must be second to none, because he’s already stroking his cock again, working his hips back against Johnny’s to match his quick pace, Johnny holds his hips so tightly he’s sure there will be bruises along the golden skin the next day.

Ten is so warm around him that he can’t last long, losing himself to the intensity of the heat and slick clamp of Ten’s walls around his throbbing cock. 

When Ten reaches up, strokes his fingers down the quivering muscle of his wings, Johnny falls over the edge, every nerve ending electric and sensitive like an expose wire, the hot drag of Ten’s palm over the downy feathers that are closest to his back making him moan embarrassingly loud. He comes crying Ten’s name, hips snapping deep into him to fuck him through his orgasm. 

Ten groans at the feeling, his whole body arching up and tightening around Johnny’s cock to take him in even deeper, holding their hips together as Johnny comes deep inside him. 

Johnny grinds into him, slow and filthy, until it’s just short of too much, then pulls out slowly. Ten whimpers when the head of his cock catches around his tight rim, and Johnny presses a kiss to the soft curve of his cheek, whispers, “hang on, let me make you come again.” 

Ten tips his head back against the silken sheets, sweat glistening against his chest and in the divots of his abdomen. “Please,” he moans, swollen mouth falling open into another gasp when Johnny pulls out completely. 

Johnny slowly lowers the leg Ten’s had over his shoulder, presses a kiss to the top of his foot and lets it drop. Then he makes his way up Ten’s body, dragging his tongue over the insides of his thighs, until finally looks up at Ten’s bitten mouth and starry eyes and asks, “Can I?”

Ten makes a noise like a strangled gasp, immediately trying to squeeze his thighs shut. “A king should not-“

”Please,” Johnny says, “I want to.”

Ten’s lips are trembling, but slowly, he lets his legs spread open again, his hand sliding off his cock.

Johnny can’t hold back the grin that splits his face. He licks a long streak up the length of Ten’s cock, hears more than sees Ten’s resulting moan, and sucks him into his mouth. 

Johnny’s not amazing at giving head, but he takes Ten’s dick as far as he can into his mouth and then slides two fingers back into his ass. Ten cries, “wait, wait it’s too- too much,” and jerks up against him, his rim clamping down against Johnny’s knuckles, and Johnny begins fucking his fingers lazily into him. 

Johnny’s only come inside Ten a handful of times, and he’s never done this before. With every thrust of his fingers, he feels a mixture of oil and come seep out of Ten’s hole, messy and slick and absolutely fucking filthy. Ten curls his hands into Johnny’s hair, his hips trembling from how hard he’s trying not to move. 

Johnny reaches his other hand up and rubs his thumb over one of Ten’s nipples, and the younger boy shudders, his ass clenching around Johnny’s fingers. 

Finally, when Johnny laves over the head of his cock and crooks his fingers just right, Ten falls apart with a cry, hips bucking up like he can’t help it. Johnny holds him down as still as he can, lets Ten come in his mouth, and swallows it down.

Ten’s chest rises and falls unevenly, his eyes glossy and dark, mouth red and swollen. He moans when Johnny’s fingers slip out of him, puffy slick hole clenching around empty air. 

He curls a hand around Johnny’s cheek and pulls him closer for another kiss, this time sweeter and softer against Johnny’s tender lips. 

Ten pulls him up the bed and curls his long limbs around him. 

“I didn’t think the consummation could ever be so enjoyable.” he whispers into the crook of Johnny’s neck. 

Johnny laughs into his hair, tilts his face up for another kiss. 

“You know,” Ten says softly, leaving one last lingering kiss to Johnny’s mouth, “I didn’t even think we would get along. Everyone in the Sky Kingdom knows me for being hotheaded and impulsive.” 

“I like that about you,” Johnny replies immediately, because he always has. “You’re just standing up for yourself and telling the truth.”

Ten fixes him with an incredulous stare. “You truly are the strangest king I’ve ever met,” he says.

Johnny holds back the words he wants to say. _Because I’m not truly a king at all._

Instead, he kisses Ten again and lets himself forget all about work and class and life for a moment, basking in the divine feeling of Ten’s body around his.


	4. Knights and Prophecies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> late af update, I know, Im really sorry!! College is hard man

Johnny will never get used to the taste of blood, salty and thick, on his tongue.

“Again,” he says, spitting out a mouthful of bright crimson. He shakes his hands to loosen them up and tightens them into fists again.

Jaehyun takes a step back and falls easily into a fighting stance. “I like this version of you,” he comments, mouth drawing up into a smile, “I could never beat you up so easily before.”

He grits his teeth against the comeback that pushes up his throat and narrows his eyes at the other man. “Again,” he repeats.

At Johnny’s own request, Jaehyun has taken to teaching him the basics of fighting. He’s lost nearly every time they’ve sparred, but somehow, the soreness doesn’t transfer from this world to the other, so he wakes up without feeling like he’s just been punched in the face (which, more often than not, he has.)

Jaehyun lunges forward, feigns to the left, and Johnny sees it in time, manages to dance out of the way before Jaehyun also throws his body that way and catches him in the ribs with a solid impact that knocks the breath out of his chest.

“Better,” Jaehyun comments as Johnny gasps for breath. “Although, better doesn’t mean you’re not still awful.”

Johnny sucks in a slow breath, straightens up. “If I could just figure out how to use magic,” he says, frustrated.

He’s tried everything over the course of the past week, from asking Ten to keep showing him his fire powers (to which he’d obliged all too easily, as eager to show off as his counterpart always is) to trying out all kinds of things in front of the strange water mirror.

It’s all been to no avail, though. Whatever magic he may have possessed is still locked away completely.

“The priest of the moon,” Jaehyun says easily, “The predecessor taught you in the first place. If anyone can help you there, it’s him.”

“Taeil taught me magic?” Johnny raises an eyebrow, then immediately regrets it when the whole right side of his temple throbs in protest. He’s beat up pretty bad.

“The priest before him,” Jaehyun says, making his way towards the antechamber of the training room. Johnny trails after him. “He didn’t teach you because magic cannot be taught, but he taught you to control it, for sure.”

“What about the sun kid? Donghyuck?” Johnny hasn’t stopped thinking about what he’d said about false kings and dreams since the wedding. Unfortunately for him, Donghyuck has been completely elusive, ducking out of rooms with Mark in tow whenever Johnny is close to catching up with him, making excuses every time he’s summoned. Johnny would find it suspicious, but Ten rolls his eyes good-naturedly and tells him, “That boy is useless. All he ever does is avoid responsibility. He doesn’t seem like it, but he’s one of the strongest magic users I’ve ever met. Now if only he could start showing up when people need him.”

“Good luck finding him,” Jaehyun snorts, palms dipping into a shallow sink of water. He wipes his face of sweat, gives Johnny a dry sort of smile and says, “Mark says all he’s been doing is drinking our wine reserves dry and wandering the grounds of the palace like a ghost. It’s driving the poor kid crazy.”

“Mark’s too straight laced,” Johnny dismisses easily, “He needs someone to loosen him up a little.”

The Mark he knows is that way, at least, with his quiet demeanor, hiding behind his glasses and hoodies all the time. He’d bet anything the other version of Mark is just as serious about his duties as a guard.

Jaehyun makes a thoughtful noise. “I suppose you’re right,” he relents, “I can’t remember the last time Mark did anything except train in his free time.”

“I’m always right,” Johnny grins at him, flicking the excess water off his fingers in Jaehyun’s general direction. It makes him whine in mild annoyance, flinching back from the spray.

“You’re always _awful_ , magic or not.”

-

Sometime in the late afternoon, when the ache of training is beginning to set into his bones, Johnny finds, after nearly an hour of wandering the grounds of the palace, crossing little footbridges and discovering hidden waterlily ponds that take his breath away with their clean glossy surfaces, the small temple in the corner of the palace grounds. It’s nothing grandiose, a simple but beautiful structure with an ornate carved wood door and a gleaming silver crescent above it.

 The inside of the temple is as simple as the outside. There are several altars at the forefront of the room, the entire floor covered with a soft mat. Johnny leaves his silky shoes at the doorstep next to a pair of old-fashioned sandals.

He steps into the dimly lit room, lets the heavy door shut behind him. He’s trying to figure out whether he should call out for the priest of the moon and disturb the silence or not when a small voice says, “Spin me a tale of false kings and dragon claws.”

He turns towards the source of the noise. Instead of Taeil standing against one of the doors that lead to what must be antechambers, Johnny finds Donghyuck’s slight frame against the doorway.

He swallows hard. “How-“

“There is a thinner line than you think,” Donghyuck says mellowly. His voice is musical, almost mesmerizing. “The line between dream and wake.”

“Is that what this is?” Johnny asks, “A dream?”

“Or is the other one the dream?” Donghyuck counters, honey-colored eyes reflecting the golden lamplight. Johnny feels like he’s staring into the eyes of a snake about to strike.

“Which will it be, dreaming King?” Donghyuck wonders. “The prince of dragons, or the one you have loved for years? Or are they one in the same?”

“How do you know so much?” Johnny asks, just because he doesn’t want to think about what the priest of the sun is saying. There’s no doubt in his mind that he’d choose the Ten back home, the one with the mischievous smile and vulnerable eyes. The Dragon Prince is witty and tempting, but Johnny has loved Ten for so long, it’s all he knows how to do.

“The spirits tell me a great deal,” Donghyuck says. He strides forward into the room, and Johnny immediately takes a step back.

“Is it possible for me to go home? Permanently?”

It’s a question that’s been bothering him for the past week. He’s getting whiplash trying to adjust to both worlds at once. Given the choice, of course, he’d choose to go home.

This world is strange and magical and interesting, but Johnny has a _life_ and he has memories and actually understands everything that happens in the other world.

Donghyuck’s mouth curls into a smile that immediately makes Johnny ill at ease.

“The kind of magic that would require is impossible.” Donghyuck says, holding his hands up in a vaguely helpless gesture. “In fact, travelling between worlds…it requires an immense amount of power. I’ve never met anyone with enough magic to do it.”

“So, it is possible, then.” Johnny says, “Theoretically, if I had enough power, it would be possible.”

“Theoretically.”

“Maybe that’s why I can’t use magic here. I’ve been depleting it travelling between worlds.”

Donghyuck shakes his head. “It’s not that. You’re practically thrumming with magical energy. It’s locked away inside you. You just have to find a way to unlock it. And you better be fast, because your magic is linked to the land.”

Johnny blinks. “What does that mean?”

Donghyuck’s eyes widen slightly. “They didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Something cold washes through him.

“False King,” Donghyuck sighs, voice heavy with pity, “You are killing your land.”

Then he’s slipping back into the shadows of the antechamber. Johnny chases after him, but when he rushes past the doorway, the chamber beside the temple room is empty.

Dread settles in the bottom of Johnny’s belly.

-

He spends the rest of the day with royal tailors, patiently waiting with his arms and wings spread as they take measurements. The head tailor, a soft-spoken man named Jungwoo that Johnny vaguely recognizes as an employee from his internship.

Jungwoo shows him a rough sketch of spiky armor that’s meant to protect his wings and Johnny stares for a second at the wicked looking shapes on the paper, heart thudding in his throat. They’re very obviously for _battle_. Johnny’s been training with Jaehyun for the past couple weeks, but it’s still strange to think that those skills will come in handy, may even be _necessary_ in this world.

After his fitting, Johnny walks around the grounds, over more delicate footbridges and tiles in the ground set in the shape of birds. The palace is easily one of the most beautiful places he’s ever been, with its intricate carved designs and ornate décor, gleaming and golden. This entire world is opulent and luxurious to an extent that makes Johnny wonder how the villagers beyond the palace walls live.

If the land is tied to him, and the villagers work and live on the land, they will be affected by Johnny’s lacking magic as well, wouldn’t they? He can’t help but think of the little village he’d seen in the distance during the wedding ceremony.

He’s still in the midst of thoughts about the rest of this magical world when he hears a familiar voice and it makes him snap to attention. He changes direction, walking with purpose towards the source of the voice.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Johnny demands the second he spots Jaehyun in the gardens.

Jaehyun gives him a wary once-over. “Tell you what?”

They’re at the edge of another koi pond filled with water lilies, the indigo twilight settling around them. Johnny shoots a look to the other guards behind Jaehyun. With a snap of his fingers, Jaehyun dismisses them.

“Tell you what?” Jaehyun repeats.

“The- The sun priest. Donghyuck. He told me that I’m- I’m killing the land. That my magic is linked to the land. What does that mean?”

Jaehyun sighs deeply. “I’m sorry,” he admits, “I should have told you, but there was so much to cover.”

“It seems pretty important that I’m responsible for the whole land!”

“It’s not like that,” Jaehyun snaps back, “It’s not that quick a change. It’s very gradual. Without your magic, the rainfall will decrease slowly, and the earth will become barren. But there’s so much time before that will begin to happen. Like I said, the changes are very gradual. You have time.”

“How do I do that?”

“Do what?”

“Unlock my magic. Donghyuck told me it was still there, it’s just locked away inside me. How do I free it?”

“I have no idea,” Jaehyun admits. “I don’t have magic, remember?”

Suddenly, Jaehyun’s frowning. “I have an idea. But you’re going to hate it.”

Warily, Johnny asks, “What is it?”

“Ask the only other magic user here. You have to tell Ten the truth.”

Johnny figured he’d say as much. “No.” he says immediately. Bluntly.

“He’s going to find out eventually anyways,” Jaehyun says, frustration bleeding into his voice. “It’s not right to keep it from him for so long. It’s just going to hurt him later on when he realizes you’ve been keeping this whole thing a secret from him. If you love him as much as you say you do-“

“I do,” Johnny groans, “But I can’t- I don’t want to ruin what we’ve got going. I don’t want him to realize the person he’s supposed to be married to is currently…wherever he is! He’s going to freak out.”

“Only because you _lied to him_ ,” Jaehyun says with such a thunderous conviction that Johnny goes silent. “Listen,” he adds with a sigh when he sees the upset in Johnny’s face, “It’s fine to be scared of his reaction. But it’s not right to keep this from him. Even if you weren’t from somewhere else, if something was wrong with your magic, it’s your responsibility to tell him. By the gods, you’re married to him!”

“ _He’s_ married to him,” Johnny whispers sullenly. “The Raven King.”

“You _are_ the Raven King.” Jaehyun says in a low voice. “Whether you like it or not.”

Then, before Johnny can get another word in edgewise, Jaehyun stalks away.

Johnny watches the sunset leach the colors from the palace grounds by himself until he feels steady enough on his feet to return to the main palace building.

-

The Dragon Prince is far too clever for his own good.

There are courtiers from all corners of the land arriving at the palace every day to celebrate their wedding and congratulate them, and so far it’s been a week of feasting and drinking and spectacular shows of magic that take Johnny’s breath away. However, they’re just superficial tricks. He’d asked Jaehyun about it before- the magic performers. Their magical ability is nearly nothing in comparison to Johnny’s own abilities, according to him.

Johnny sinks into his usual seat beside Ten, trying to keep a poker face, but Ten catches on to his emotional imbalance immediately.

“Are you okay?” He asks, reaching a hand out to press two tentative fingers to the inside of Johnny’s wrist, feeling his pulse there. “You seem upset.”

Johnny shakes his head, pulls his wrist away as casually as he can.

A flicker of emotion passes over Ten’s face, but it’s too fast for him to be able to read.

Johnny focuses on the woman doing extremely complicated acrobatics in front of him instead of on what that look on Ten’s face had meant.

-

Johnny wakes up to a dark silent room. The digital screen of his alarm clock blinks lurid red numbers at him. The sun is just beginning to rise, the room washed dark blue and gray.

On Johnny’s phone, there is a text from Ten; _Lol, I had a dream about you last night._

A burst of heat runs up Johnny’s spine. He recognizes the sensation as hope.

Before he can resist the urge or think better of it, he calls Ten.

It’s a while before Ten picks up, his voice gravelly and half slurred with sleep. “John, it’s like six in the morning,” he whines.

“What did you dream last night?” Johnny asks hoarsely.

“Come on,” Ten groans, “You’re waking me up for that? Do you know how long it took me to get back to sleep after the dream?”

“What did you dream, Ten?” Johnny repeats impatiently.

“Well for one, you were definitely not yelling at me.” There’s some rustling over the line, and Johnny can almost imagine Ten turning over in his bed, phone pressed to his ear. “Actually, you were crying.”

Johnny’s brows furrow together. “What do you mean?”

“You were crying about- about me, I think. It was weird, I couldn’t really hear, but I remember you were crying and it was _bad_. Like, worse than the time you got dumped by Sehun and refused to leave your room for a week.”

Johnny winces delicately. He doesn’t like to think about the momentary lapse in judgment _that_ relationship had been.

“What happened to you?” He asks instead, trying to put all thoughts of doomed past relationships behind him.

“I have no idea.” Ten says, then pauses to yawn. “But it must have been bad, because you were absolutely sobbing.”

“And you prefaced your text with _lol_ ,” Johnny says dryly.

“It was more like an offhanded way of checking up on you,” Ten admits, “But I know you don’t believe in that spiritual connection shit. It was just really weird.”

Ten’s the one who’s always buying tarot cards and checking his daily horoscope. Johnny’s been grounded in reality until very recently. Still, his little forays into his secret magical world don’t make him any more faithful to spiritual powers and mysticism. Horoscopes mean shit to him.

“I’m fine,” Johnny sighs into the receiver. “Thanks for checking up on me.”

Ten goes quiet for a little bit. Then, in a small voice, he says, “Is it weird that I want to see you right now?”

Johnny’s heart beats just a bit too fast at those words. He’s so easily affected by the soft curling quality of Ten’s voice, falling prey to the gentle way he shapes his words. “Come over.” Johnny murmurs, “I don’t have work today.”

The response he expects is something along the lines of “ _you’re joking, right? It’s 6AM_.” Instead, he gets a humming noise, and then, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Johnny asks incredulously, but a quiet click lets him know that Ten has hung up.

Ten is always spontaneous and a bit on the wild side, but Johnny knows better than anyone he loves sleeping in. There’s nothing short of the apocalypse itself that would get Ten out of bed so early: he must really be shaken up from the dream.

Johnny dozes for another half hour until the door to his room clicks open, rousing him.

He’s still tired enough that he doesn’t open his eyes, knowing it’s Ten just from his fleetfooted steps.

The bed dips as Ten sets himself down on the edge, then, lifting Johnny’s blanket, he slides up against Johnny’s back, hands wrapping automatically around his waist.

“’Morning,” Johnny mumbles, reaches blindly behind him to press a hand to wherever he can reach. He ends up gently slapping Ten’s shoulder, palm sliding up to stroke lazily through the younger’s hair.

“Not yet,” Ten grumbles back, “Give me another hour and we’ll see.”

“You came all this way just to sleep some more?” Johnny muses, but Ten hums deep in his throat, soft cheek pressing against Johnny’s bare back, arms tightening around him, and Johnny knows he won’t get a more vocal response.

Instead, he lets himself doze some more, somewhere between completely asleep and just aware enough to feel Ten’s exhales against his shoulder blade.

It’s moments like this that make Johnny’s heart feel like it’s going to explode at any moment. Ten’s boisterous and pretentious at times, but when the urge to impress is stripped away, he’s soft and vulnerable, quiet and thoughtful, and Johnny loves that side of him as much as he loves the mischievous loud side.

Eventually, Ten speaks up again, pushing him away from the edge of sleep. “Would you be sad if anything happened to me?”

“What would happen to you?” Johnny asks, turning around as best he can in the tight circle of Ten’s arms. “I’d try to stop it from happening.” Their faces are so close, Johnny can feel every one of Ten’s exhales against his lips.

“But if it did,” Ten asks, his eyes heavy lidded, irises so dark that they’re impossible to distinguish from the pupil. In the bluish morning light, the sharp planes of his face look strange and delicate. The intrusive thought pops into his head before he can help it. _The Dragon Prince._

“Of course, I would,” Johnny says honestly, “You’re my best friend.”

“Jaehyun-“

“You’re my best friend in a different way than Jaehyun. I’ve known Jaehyun since we were kids. He’s my childhood best friend. You’re my adult best friend.”

Ten’s mouth curls into a smile. “So, you’d cry over me like in my dream?”

“If you don’t have a problem with me getting tears and snot all over you, then yeah,” Johnny jokes.

Ten gives him a searching look, a tiny smile, and then, “Get up, let’s go do something. I can’t sleep anymore and I can smell your morning breath.”

“Fuck you,” Johnny laughs, drawing back and sitting up. In the process, he drags the sheets up around him and away from Ten, who shrieks as his skin is exposed to the chill of the room and dives forward into Johnny’s lap, following the warmth.

“Fuck _you_ ,” he says without any heat, fingers curling into the sheets to pull them more securely around him. “I brought you breakfast and coffee, and this is what I get in return?”

Johnny slides from the blankets and lets Ten tug them towards himself. He slides his feet into his slippers and shuffles over towards the attached bathroom, acutely aware of Ten’s eyes on his back.

“Stop staring, you pervert.”

“It’s your fault for being so hot.”

When Johnny shoots him a look, Ten grins innocently up at him and bats his eyelashes.

 He tugs a shirt on and brushes his teeth with the door open. The entire time, Ten talks about some project he has due in one of his classes and how no one is helping him work on it. Johnny hums and nods around his toothbrush at the appropriate times, and when he’s done, Ten finally leaves the covers to glide over to him and press him against the doorframe.

“Your lips are cute,” he mumbles, using his index finger to trace the dip of Johnny’s cupid’s bow, down to the corner of his mouth.

“You’re cute,” Johnny replies and drapes an arm over Ten’s shoulder to draw him closer. The domesticity is sickeningly sweet, but Johnny can’t help but he addicted to it.

Ten stands on his tiptoes, presses a sweet kiss to Johnny’s mouth, and draws back again, eyes lidded and dark. “Later,” Ten says softly, “I’m going to tie you to the bed and ride you until you cry. And then probably some more.”

A shiver of lightning arousal shoots down Johnny’s spine. “Pervert.” He repeats shakily.

“Don’t act like you don’t love it.”

Johnny pushes him away gently and crosses the room to the door. “You’re ridiculous.”

In the kitchen, Jaehyun is standing in front of the open fridge, hair disheveled, his cheeks and eyes swollen from sleep.

“Hey,” he mumbles when Johnny passes him on his way to the paper cup of coffee Ten had left on the counter. When Ten follows Johnny, Jaehyun pouts at him. “You could’ve brought me breakfast too, you dick.”

Ten reaches up and presses his palms to Jaehyun’s cheeks, pushes them together and Johnny resists the urge to comment on how much Jaehyun looks like a kid. “Sorry, cutie,” Ten croons, “You can have my croissant if you want, but I’m keeping the latte.”

The younger boy’s brows crease together, but he stays silent as Ten pinches his doughy cheek again. “Thanks, I guess.” He finally says dubiously.

“How is Taeyong not awake yet?” Ten murmurs to Johnny, coming to stand hip-to-hip with him at the counter, watching as he pours his own latte into a chipped mug to warm it up again. “You’d think his Jaehyun-is-being-cute senses would be tingling by now.”

Johnny snorts and slams the microwave door shut with more effort than necessary. “Yours certainly are.”

Ten hums in response to that, padding over to the table. “Warm up my coffee too?” He calls over to Johnny.

This is so _mundane_ , Johnny finds himself thinking as he microwaves Ten’s coffee. So normal, so familiar. He’s had Saturdays like this so many times in the past, this is practically routine. He knows exactly how many seconds to microwave the coffee so it will warm up without making the mug too hot to touch. He knows that the milk in the fridge is likely a day or two past the expiry, but he’ll still use it in his cereal because Jaehyun’s convinced him expiration dates are a conspiracy. He knows that he has work at the garbage sandwich shop a couple blocks down later this afternoon.

He catches himself before he can think the word that lurks in the depths of his mind: _boring_.

-

The feeling of waking up to Ten’s soft cheek pressed against his shoulder is more a treasure than anything else this magical world can offer.

The Dragon Prince is already awake and watching him with those dark eyes, an almost solemn expression on his face.

Johnny blinks down at him. “What’s wrong?” He asks immediately.

“I find you exceedingly pleasant, and it’s bothering me.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Johnny reaches a hand up, ruffles Ten’s soft inky hair.

Ten reaches out slowly, and, almost hesitantly, he rubs his thumb over the curve of Johnny’s upper lip. “This,” he says contemplatively, “This is striking. The shape makes me want to…”

He leans in, presses a kiss to Johnny’s lips that makes Johnny’s eyes flutter shut instinctively.

“You’re an impulsive creature.” Johnny says, unable to help the grin that blossoms over his mouth when Ten stops kissing him.

“And you’re far too pleasant to be real.”

“What do you mean?”

Ten makes a face, baring his just-too-sharp teeth, and then says, “What’s _wrong_ with you? I keep waiting for there to be some kind of major defect.”

“Ah,” Johnny says, suddenly uncomfortable with the proximity. Right. A defect.

“Actually,” he says softly, shifting a bit so he can sit up. Ten moves with him, sharp elbows and thin limbs still wound around Johnny’s body. “Maybe we should talk about that.”

Ten blinks, eyes wide and trusting. “Okay,” he agrees immediately. “What do you want to talk about?”

He _knows_ he should just confess to Ten. He’s been keeping it to himself for so long, and Ten deserves to know, he’s so wrapped up in all this strangeness.

Instead, Johnny finds the words spilling from his mouth, a half-truth; “There’s a problem with my magic.”

Ten sits up a little straighter. “A problem?”

“More like… it’s locked inside me and I can’t use it. And I’m tied to the land, so it’s going to end badly unless we can figure out why I can’t use it.” Johnny says weakly.

“A curse?” Ten asks immediately, scanning Johnny’s face like he’ll be able to physically see a curse if he stares hard enough. “Is that what has been bothering you lately?”

“Not exactly,” Johnny tries, “But similar, I guess. I’m still figuring it out myself. Your sun priest- Donghyuck, he said I have to figure it out quickly because my magic, or lack thereof, will start affecting the land eventually.”

Ten’s already nodding, processing things at lightspeed. “That makes sense. The current Dragon King’s power is tied to the Sky Kingdom in the same way. My older brother is a powerful king, which is why the the kingdom thrives under his rule.”

 _Brother_ , Johnny notices. Not father. He can’t help but wonder who Ten’s brother is, what kind of person he is to let his younger brother marry for the sake of convenience and politics instead of love.

“I will, of course, assist you in freeing you magic from this curse.” Ten is saying when Johnny tunes back in, “We must ask the priests of the sun and moon for guidance.”

“You’re-“ Johnny swallows hard. “You’re going too fast, slow down for a second. Donghyuck knows more about his than he’s letting on, he keeps saying that he knows things but he won’t tell me what he knows. Let me figure out what he’s keeping from me, and then we can see what we can do.”

“You must confer with him soon,” Ten says solemnly, “There are few curses strong enough to tamper with the power of a king, and if what you say is true, I fear this could have disastrous implications.”

Johnny edges in another half-truth. “I went to see him once, but he wasn’t exactly helpful. He mostly said some things have made no sense and left before I could ask him anything of substance.”

“That boy,” Ten sighs, “He’s too powerful for his own good. He gets too wrapped up in the spirits, he can’t focus on what’s real and what matters. Not to mention he’s got that reckless streak about him.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of seeing Taeil- the priest of the moon, I mean. Since he taught me how to control my magic in the first place.”

“Perhaps he will be able to divine something you have missed.” Ten suggests, finally sitting up completely. “I will accompany you to see him later.”

Johnny can’t help but think about the last time he was at the temple. Donghyuck and his talk about false kings, about lies and dreams. He bites the inside of his cheek to keep from outright refusing. Instead, he nods slowly. “Okay,” he agrees, “I’ll come find you and we can go to the temple later.”

Ten absolutely beams at him. Johnny stifles the guilt inside himself and forces himself to smile back.

-

Before Johnny can come to the temple with Ten and possibly get himself in a complicated situation, he tracks down Donghyuck all on his own.

Instead of asking around for the sun priest, he instead asks for Mark, knowing the knight won’t be far behind his charge. The guards are familiar with Mark, and point him in the right direction easily.

They’re in some tiny clover field a little ways from the temple, Donghyuck basking in the rays of the sun like he was made from them, Mark standing above him, back straight, eyebrows scrunched together in irritation.

“I need to talk to Donghyuck alone.” Is all Johnny has to say before Mark dips his head in a shallow bow and retreats towards the temple, shielding his eyes from the sun.

Donghyuck is a lynx in the golden sunlight, his burnished hair shining like fire. “You came back.” There’s no surprise in his words, only bluntness.

“No more games,” Johnny says, arms crossed tightly over his chest, “I need you to tell me what you know about this world and the other one. Can I stop travelling between them? Are they two separate entities? Am I dreaming of this place? Does Ten know anything about the other world?”

“You flatter me, thinking that a humble servant of the sun would know so much.” Donghyuck grins, wide and guileless. “But you are a kind soul, even I can sense that much, so I will give you what you seek, King of Dreamers.”

“What do I seek?”

“Validation. Love. Adventure. You will see the priest of the moon for the latter and for your magic. From the sun, I can only offer you this. There is no such thing as dream and reality. It simply is what it is. Take that how you will, False King.”

“Does Ten- does _my_ Ten, the other one, know anything about this? Or does the Dragon Prince know about the other world? Or is it just me?”

“The only one blessed with the ability to travel is you.” Donghyuck closes his strange eyes, irises like honey struck through with sunlight. “The Dragon Prince’s growing feelings toward you is a problem, wouldn’t you say?”

Ten _has_ been clingy lately, sweetly reaching out to grab Johnny’s hands whenever they’re together, and though they haven’t done anything explicit since the night they’d consummated their marriage, the Dragon Prince sleeps as sprawled out on the mattress as his counterpart, limbs tangled with Johnny’s, taking up all his space. It’s a familiar comfort.

 Johnny doesn’t want to think about the implications of that. He’s stubbornly, helplessly in love with Ten in the real world, and the thought of Ten with his spiraling tattoo and dark eyes and flaming fingertips actually falling for _him_ sounds like a bad joke. It must be the cruelest joke in the universe, if Ten ends up loving him here.

“You overthink things.” Donghyuck whispers, two fingers pressed to his temple like he can feel Johnny’s thoughts. “And not in a fun way like that rigid knight.”

“Give Mark a break.” Johnny frowns, remembering what Jaehyun had said about his brother being frustrated. “He’s just trying to do his duty.”

“That’s all he’s ever done, you know.” Donghyuck says abruptly, a sad sort of smile blooming on his full lips. “Not a day in his life has passed where he hasn’t compared himself to his perfect brother.”

“And you think you can loosen him up by dragging him around the palace and bothering him far too often.”

“No,” Donghyuck shakes his head quickly, “There is nothing to loosen up. He simply _is_ how he is. If my bothering him keeps his mind off his own shortcomings, however…” The sun priest tilts his head, as if calculating.

Johnny blinks. “You’re smarter than people give you credit for.”

Donghyuck smirks. “When people worship you for what you were born with, you get a lot of time to learn things about people.”

“You also get a lot of time to learn how to be a cryptic asshole, I guess.”

Donghyuck’s smirk widens into a grin. “Of course.”

-

Ten accompanies him to the temple again in the afternoon. This time, there are some worshippers who immediately lower their heads in respect when they pass.

The temple is just as breathtaking as the previous day with its ingenious simplicity. Ten scans the main worship room with wary eyes.

“There are few of these in the Sky Kingdom.” He explains when Johnny raises an eyebrow inquisitively. “I’ve only been to one in my whole life, and it was years ago. The sun temples are much more… grandiose.”

Johnny has absolutely no idea what sun temples look like, but from the golden jewelry he’s seen draped over Ten and Donghyuck alike, he has a faint inkling of how extravagant they must be, so he nods like he understands.

There is no Donghyuck to be found when they make their way to the antechamber of the main room. Instead, when they enter side by side, Taeil is sitting in the center of the room, his legs crossed neatly under him, eyes closed.

“My king,” he says without opening them, “and the Prince of Dragons. May the gods bless you.”

“May the gods bless you,” Ten replies immediately, and Johnny mumbles it after him, just a beat too late.

“You came to see me,” Taeil says, finally opening his eyes and standing up. He smiles graciously, and it sets Johnny a bit more at ease.

“I need a favor,” Johnny begins, “The sun priest told me to come to you about it. There’s a problem with my magic. It’s here inside me, but I can’t use it. There are some…complications and we were wondering if you could help me since you’re the one who taught me to control my magic in the first place.”

“We suspect it is a curse.” Ten adds.

“Curses,” Taeil muses, his silvery eyes trained on Johnny’s, “They require an amount of concentration from me, you see. It would be better if you came with me.”

He turns on his heels, begins to lead them from the room. Ten and Johnny follow behind him, and they wind up in a room down the twisting halls of the temple, somewhere in the very depths of the building. Johnny sees scrolls and lamps littering the space, a bed as simple as the outside décor in one corner. Taeil’s private rooms, then.

“What you really require from me is divination.” He says softly, silver irises shifting like fluid water, “That is what you seek, is it not?”

Johnny bites his lip. Nods slowly, unsure of exactly what that entails.

Taeil sighs heavily, heads towards the carved wooden dresser in one corner of the room. From it, he removes a small bowl, and then turns back to Johnny. There’s a glint of silver in the dim light, and Johnny realizes there’s a blade in his hand.

Taeil holds his hand out expectantly, and Johnny puts his own in the older man’s grip.

Taeil’s eyes close, his lips moving so fast that they look like they’re quivering, forming silent words. Then, with a smooth movement, there’s a hot flash of pain in Johnny’s hand and a cut in his palm welling up with blood.

“Ah,” he breathes out, “You have come to me for good reason, my king.”

Johnny narrows his eyes, not sure whether he should focus on the cut dripping blood into the bowl or Taeil’s fingers dipping into the bowl or Taeil’s face, which has taken on an almost peaceful expression.

Finally, Taeil releases his hand and dips his own fingers deeper into the bowl, coating them in Johnny’s blood. His lips form more silent words, and then-

Taeil opens his eyes slowly.

Johnny feels frozen in place. Taeil’s eyes are all white and clouded over, pupil and irisless.

“You….” Taeil’s strange milky eyes focus for a second on Johnny’s face. “You, the king of wing and claw, you seek answers. You only find solace between dream and reality, but you have mixed up where one ends and the other begins. You must journey, king of stars and night, to the one who blessed you with your abilities if you want them back. You must seek your maker.”

A strange chill has fallen over the silent room, and though Johnny is standing directly in the sun, it makes him shiver.

Abruptly, Taeil blinks and his eyes return to normal, their dark color appearing as if it had never been absent in the first place.

He murmurs weakly, “Where the mountains meet the sky. That is where you will find the answers you seek, my king.”

From beside him, Ten takes a deep breath; the first sound that he’s made since stepping into Taeil’s private chamber. Johnny startles, attention zeroing in on him. He’s got his chin tipped in a way Johnny’s learned to identify as stubbornness, a determined fire burning so bright in his eyes that Johnny’s surprised he isn’t bursting into real flames. He turns his gaze onto Johnny, their eyes meeting, and an understanding passes between them. Ten grins so wide it’s almost barbaric.

“A quest, then.”


	5. The Quest

Once, when they had been twelve, Jaehyun had gotten mad at him.

Not the usual petulance that comes from baseless arguments and dumb disagreements. This had been a whole different kind of mad. Jaehyun had not spoken to him for three weeks, and every time Johnny had walked down the street to his house to try and fix things, he’d gotten a blank stare and a door slammed in his face.

Jaehyun looks like a pushover, with his dimples and easygoing smile, but Johnny knows that when he’s angry, he’s scarier than anyone else.

That’s why when Ten excitedly explains to Jaehyun that they have to go on a _quest_ , something that hasn’t been done in _decades_ , isn’t that _exciting_ , Johnny knows exactly what Jaehyun is thinking despite his careful deadpan.

What he thinks, and what he informs Johnny later, when they’re alone, in a voice so furious but hushed that every word trembles with carefully concealed rage, is, “This is a _terrible_ idea, John. This is what happens when you keep lying; you have a mountain of secrets and it’s going to end horribly!”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Johnny appeases, “But I can’t just come out and tell him. I need to wait for the right time.”

“There will _never_ be a right time. You’re going to bottle this up and keep avoiding it until it’s too important to ignore anymore, and when the truth comes out, it’ll ruin whatever you think you’re doing with him right now.”

“I appreciate your endless positivity.” Johnny says dryly, pushing past him to exit the training room. “But the problem at hand isn’t about what Ten does or doesn’t know right now. It’s about keeping this entire country from falling apart because I’m too incompetent to figure out how to do something that’s supposed to come naturally to me.”

“Whatever you say,” Jaehyun replies coolly, and doesn’t follow him out.

-

There is much to be done in preparation of a quest, Johnny finds.

The first order of business is to decide who will accompany them. Ten, Johnny, and Jaehyun are givens. As is Taeyong, Ten asserts later one night while they discuss it. As for the rest of their entourage, Johnny is not sure how to pick people out.

Jaehyun is still upset with him, that much is evident by the way his shoulders stiffen every time Johnny speaks to him.

Thankfully, Ten is so enthusiastic that he is with Johnny through every step of the process, from asking Taeil more about his divinations, to suggesting a tournament to decide which knights to take.

“However,” he comments on his last suggestion, “A tournament may take too long. Perhaps we should ask which knights want to accompany us, have them prove their strength, and choose from amongst them?”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Johnny finds himself agreeing, “Let’s ask them to make the announcement.”

And while it had been easy enough to make that decision, the influx of interested knights had very much not been.

Johnny does not even realize how many of them have gathered until a very flustered looking pageboy comes to find him, bowing low and saying, “My King, the knights who have come for the trial are too ample in number to fit in the designated courtyard. Should we extend the area to the garden next to it?”

It’s not until Johnny himself walks to the said overfilled knight’s training courtyard that he realizes the extent of the problem. There are at least fifty knights in the space, while on a normal day there are anywhere from a dozen to two in that area. The others had come from all around the capital and the nearby cities, according to the pageboy.

The crowd parts suddenly, and Ten bursts forward through the armored bodies to Johnny’s side.

“There you are,” he says, grinning up at Johnny, and despite the crumpled state of his black tunic and disheveled hair, he looks perfectly content amongst the clinking breastplates and swords, “Let us begin the trials.”

-

The trials are a nightmare. There are so many knights to get through, but they’ve limited the number per day to ten. Otherwise, the task becomes too tedious and they wind up not being able to focus.

The knights themselves turn out mostly to be more talk than action, boasting about their feats in their shiny new armor. When it comes time to spar, these are the knights that usually lose.

Every morning when Johnny wakes up back in his apartment, he finds himself worn out from the time-consuming task of evaluating each warrior.

The other Jaehyun is no help either, busying himself with studying for an exam he has coming up instead of worrying about why Johnny looks so exhausted all the time.

Johnny had classes scattered here and there as well, but he catches himself thinking about knights and the loud clanking of swords connecting in blows rather than the material in front of him. He even makes a chart in his notebook weighing the pros and cons of the most recent batch of knights during a particularly dull class.

More and more, Johnny finds himself wishing he could spend just an hour more discussing the candidates with the most potential with Ten or sorting through who would perform that day with Taeyong rather than mundane days spent between studying and work.

It scares him a bit. The urge to stay in the fantasy world takes him by surprise, but once it has caught him in its clutches, it refuses to release. Johnny spends most of his time daydreaming about shimmering inked dragons and honeyed wine.

Ten doesn’t like it.

He says as much one night when they meet up for dinner with Taeyong. Jaehyun has a late shift at his part time job, so it’s just the three of them tonight.

“I feel like we haven’t talked in ages,” Ten complains over shots that burn on their way down. “Are you like, avoiding us or what?”

“I wouldn’t,” Johnny claims, downing a shot of his own.

Taeyong’s sticking to water, which is a wise choice, in Johnny’s opinion. Taeyong’s an infamously bad lightweight, and it takes just a bit of burden off Johnny’s conscience to see him sipping water instead of vodka.

“Are you seeing someone?” Ten asks, suspicion evident in his voice.

“ _No_ ,” Johnny says adamantly, “Why are you so worked up, anyways? Even if I were seeing someone- which,” he adds seeing Ten’s eyes widen, “I’m _not_ , it wouldn’t be your business anyways. I’m just busy with my classes and the internship.”

It’s not a lie, exactly. Trying to work part time while also balancing his internship and the last couple classes for his degree is a painful experience, but he’s no busier than usual. Usual just happens to be extremely hectic for him.

Normally, at the end of a night out, Ten crashes at Jaehyun and Johnny’s apartment, crawling into Johnny’s bed. Occasionally, even hooking up with Johnny.

However, the hurt in his eyes is still present at the end of the night, and it makes Johnny feel like shit when he grabs Taeyong and heads to the subway instead of catching a cab with Johnny.

He knows he’d been a bit harsher than necessary, but Ten’s jealousy is completely unwarranted.

So he drags himself home, still feeling like a dick, and spends the rest of the night half sprawled over Jaehyun’s lap. Sometime in the middle of some anime that’s raptly captured Jaehyun’s attention, their cat comes slinking onto Johnny’s chest, and Johnny counts it as a small victory.

“At least you love me, Venom.”

A second later, Venom leaps off his chest and into Jaehyun’s side.

Of course.

-

After weeks of careful preparations, Johnny and Ten have agreed on exactly three knights to accompany them. They’ve decided that the less people go, the better.

Johnny’s pick is Doyoung, a knight from the outer villages of the kingdom who strikes something within him immediately with his carefree attitude and skills in swordsmanship. The knight had walked to the center of the courtyard with a cocky spring in his step and declared himself the best of all the knights. At first, Johnny had scoffed at the claim, but after seeing Doyoung tear down opponent after opponent with ease, he’d found himself agreeing.

Ten picks out a knight from the Sky Kingdom called Yukhei who nearly towers over even Johnny and has a grin as infectious as Ten’s.  Yukhei, who, in the other world, had slept with both Ten and Jaehyun at different points in their college life.

Whom Ten had been quite infatuated with for a whole month before unceremoniously dropping the second he’d gotten too close. Whom Johnny has a burning dislike for, in the real world.

Yukhei, whom the Dragon Prince smiles at with unabashed adoration, because they’d grown up together in the Sky Kingdom.

Johnny is not jealous. He couldn’t be such a petty emotion, not when he and Ten are married and bound together. However, he is wary of the way the knight swings his arm around Ten’s shoulder in a far too familiar way and whispers something into his ear, and Ten bursts out laughing.

It feels way too much like another round of the cycle Johnny falls in back in the other world, when Ten finds a new weekly infatuation and brings him to dinner, and Johnny finds himself having to smile and make nice with whichever handsome face Ten has picked up.

But his feelings aside, this Yukhei is a valid choice. He’s good with a longbow and even better for moral, with his eternally upbeat attitude. Johnny tries his best to set aside the trivial swirling of emotion inside his chest that tells him not to trust the knight and hopes for the best.

The last person accompanying them is someone Ten and Johnny had unanimously decided upon.

The slight, pretty faced man with a ragged scar down his cheek who smiles wide at both of them before throwing a quick succession of slim daggers that imbed themselves right over Johnny and Ten’s heads.

The guards in the corner of the courtyard had sprang to action, but Johnny, pulse racing, had called them off and asked for the man’s name.

And so, Nakamoto Yuta, the self-described weapons master had joined their entourage.

The final line up of their quest is small enough to be inconspicuous but large enough to make the journey in safety.

That is, until Donghyuck decides to stick his nose into things once again and mess everything up.

The sun priest comes to Johnny one day when he’s holding court. Holding court, Johnny discovers, is the most tedious of his jobs. As king, it isn’t his job to do much in times of peace but oversee the decisions the ministers make and listen to the regional governing noble’s problems and come up with solutions.

Most of the problems are small skirmishes between different houses of nobles that are easily solved, and Johnny finds himself thankful for Donghyuck’s distraction.

The sun priest summons him away from the throne room, Mark trailing after both of them, his arms crossed tight across his chest. Johnny is curious about the sour expression on his face right up until Donghyuck turns to him and says, “We must accompany you on this quest.”

Johnny takes one look at the earnest expression on his face and says, “No.”

“But-“

“No,” he repeats, “You’re needed in the capital. Besides, we have to keep it small, so adding two more people is counterproductive.”

Donghyuck frowns. “We _must_ ,” he argues, “I have foreseen it!”

“And I’ve foreseen that you’re a pain in my ass.” Johnny says dryly, “If you’re not going to give me details, count yourself out automatically. I don’t need secrets among the people who are accompanying me.”

He turns around and begins walking back into the throne room.

Exasperatedly, Donghyuck cries, “Stop!”

Immediately, Johnny feels a blast of warmth hit him and stop him mid-step.

He turns around, already feeling a throbbing start at his temple.

Donghyuck is _glowing_ when he turns, just a little bit around the edges. Johnny narrows his eyes, not one to give in so easily. He’s seen more impressive tricks from magicians in the court.

“It has been foreseen,” Donghyuck says, this time much softer. His eyes, when he fixes them on Johnny’s, are also glowing faintly golden. “You _will_ let us join your quest.”

Something about his voice strikes Johnny as odd. It’s as if his voice has been layered over itself, giving off the impression that there’s more than one voice speaking at once.

It’s an eerie sensation.

When Donghyuck’s aura gradually calms, Johnny gathers himself.

“Listen,” he says truthfully, “I would be okay with you coming. But it has to come with some conditions. I can’t have someone I can’t trust coming along.”

“I will meet your conditions.”

“No secrets,” Johnny says firmly, “No more cryptic shit. If you know something, you have to tell me. You can’t wander off by yourself and do whatever you want. And Mark is still in charge of you.”

Mark makes a pained noise from behind them, but Johnny pays him no mind. “You _will_ do your best to help us on this quest.”

Donghyuck’s glare is so intense it’s almost unbearable to look him in the eyes, but finally, he snaps, “I swear to you.”

Johnny lets out a breath. “Excellent. Now try not to bother me for the next three days before we have to leave.”

-

Ten falls asleep earlier than him most days, and the night before they are set to leave is no exception.

Minutes after flicking his fingers to extinguish the lanterns mounted on each wall of the room, Ten’s breathing evens out and the tight grip he has on Johnny’s arm loosens considerably.

Sleep comes much slower to him, though. The anxiety that’s been eating at him all week comes at him full force now, gnawing at the pit of his belly and washing over him like a thick suffocating blanket.

When it gets the best of him, he slides off the bed and contemplates going to take a dip in the bathing chamber.

That wouldn’t solve his restlessness, though. He knows exactly what is causing the brunt of it, and he still isn’t sure how to fix it.

Jaehyun is sitting down in front of his door, wings neatly folded into his back, legs crossed under him.

When Johnny’s door cracks open, he stiffens a little and glances over his shoulder, their eyes meeting briefly before he turns back around.

“We must depart early in the morning,” Jaehyun says, “You should be asleep by now.”

Johnny eyes the empty hallway. There are no servants hurrying around or other guards posted around. The cavernous fall feels much too big and shadowy like this. “Are you the only one here?” he asks instead, sitting down on the cold mosaic tiles as well. “You should be resting too.”

“I couldn’t sleep.” Jaehyun turns his attention back to his lap, and Johnny finds a slender golden dagger between his fingers. “And the guards have exhausted themselves trying to get chosen for this quest. I dismissed them.”

Jaehyun’s slender fingers move quickly, a piece of cloth in his hand, and Johnny watches as he cleans off the dagger’s blade with experienced, precise movements.

Johnny blinks. He holds his hand out and asks, “Can I see that for a minute?”

Jaehyun hands it over, and Johnny holds it up and squints. The whole thing can’t be much longer than the span of his wrist to the tip of his middle finger, but the detail in the engraved hilt is mesmerizing.

Tiny birds with miniscule feathers that are nothing but lines etched in gold decorate the hilt, along with a knob at the base made of a metal firmer than the gold. The blade glints in the wash of light the lantern on the far wall provides, made of the same heavier metal as the base of the hilt. More durable than the gold of the handle.

It looks familiar, somehow. Like something Johnny had seen in a museum or something he’d owned as a child. But he’d remember something so ornate and unique, wouldn’t he?

He says softly, “I feel like I’ve seen this before.”

Jaehyun’s mouth turns down in a frown. “This blade… you gave it to me when you made me the captain of the guard. It was made in the very mountains we are to travel to. It’s an old blade, forged with dragon-fire and magic. Or so they say.”

Johnny’s eyebrows draw together as he weighs the small blade in his hand. It’s heavy for its size, although the metal does not feel very dense.

“Do you remember where you’ve seen it?” Jaehyun asks urgently. His dark eyes focus on Johnny’s fingers as he runs them lightly up and down the hilt, then the blade.

Johnny swears he’s seen it _somewhere,_ whether a distant memory from his childhood or something else.

Abruptly, his finger skims the edge of the blade and it imbeds itself in his skin. He cries out in surprise more than anything, dropping the blade as blood erupts to the surface of his skin. The cut isn’t very deep, but it stings worse than any papercut he’s ever gotten and bleeds profusely.

Jaehyun sighs deeply, reaching over to pluck the dagger out of his lap and tuck it back into its sheath. He says, “Here, let me see that.”

Johnny dutifully sticks his finger out, and Jaehyun rummages around his pocket for a second. He pulls out a little square handkerchief and tears a strip from it. He binds the wound tightly and ties off the strip of cloth neatly before dropping Johnny’s hand.

Johnny wiggles his fingers back and forth, testing the makeshift bandage. “Thanks.”

“Look,” Jaehyun says abruptly, whirling to face him. “This quest will not be easy for any of us, but it will be the hardest for you. I know you don’t want to tell Ten the truth about you, and I know I can’t make you, but I hope you at least _consider_ what I say.”

Johnny settles against the wall, legs splaying out on the tiles under them.

“I’ve been considering it,” he says honestly, fingers tugging on the knot Jaehyun tied with the bandage. Thankfully, it’s firmly done enough that not even his fidgeting loosens it. “I really don’t think it’s the right time yet. I want to tell him, trust me, I _do_. It’s just… I can’t right now, not when we’re at this turning point.”

Jaehyun inhales deeply. “Yeah,” he says wistfully, “I just hope it’s not too late by the time you do tell him.”

A minute passes in silence. Johnny breaks it first.

“I know you’re angry with me, and it’s a justified anger, by all means. But I need you right now, Jae.”

Jaehyun holds his stare for a second before sighing and holding his hand out. Johnny clasps his hand for a second before letting it drop.

“Okay,” Jaehyun says finally, “I have your back.”

And somehow, everything feels a little more normal.

-

The morning brings the stress of their departure.

The knights have gathered in front of the palace gates by midmorning, their gear and rations packed away into small packs that will be easy to carry. Johnny, Ten, Jaehyun, and Taeyong arrive without fanfare in order to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

The last to arrive is Donghyuck, trailing after a very out-of-breath Mark with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

Jaehyun arches a brow at him curiously, but Mark just says darkly, “You don’t want to know.”

When they have all congregated, another problem presents itself.

Johnny had grown up in the city. He’s seen horses driving down to his cousin’s house in the countryside, but they were briefly in passing while he’d been half-asleep in the car.

The prospect of having to ride one of the beasts before him now, though, makes dread settle heavily in his stomach.

“You’re kidding,” he hisses to Jaehyun, who absolutely beams back at him, the fucking traitor. “I can’t- I’ve never even been _near_ a horse.”

“It’s easy,” Jaehyun winks at him, before swinging himself up onto his horse with ease.

Johnny tries copying him as best as he can and manages to scramble up onto his own horse, a big black monster whose muscles shift under a shining short coat. It’s hard not to be apprehensive when he’s so high off the ground, but he tries his best not to let it show through on his face.

Once the gates have been opened by the guards on duty and they actually set off, Johnny discovers that riding is easier than he’d expected. The small bit of initial discomfort is almost unnoticeable after a couple minutes, and it’s easy enough to figure it out as he goes. As for the small things he doesn’t know, Jaehyun rides beside him and hisses tips under his breath.

They pass through a field, skirting around the bustling capital town to head instead for the forest Johnny had first woken up in.

The forest is beautiful in the morning. The underbrush under them is wet with dew, the trunks of the trees blurred by a light mist, and everything glistens under the weak rays of the sun. The light catches Ten’s smooth skin, and he looks for a second as if he’s made out of gold.

He gives Johnny a dazzling grin and asks, “What’s wrong? You’re staring at me.”

It takes several seconds for Johnny to sort his discombobulated thoughts and come up with a reply that doesn’t make him seem completely hopeless.

“The light reflects off your tattoo.”

Under the sunlight, the little bit of the dragon that is visible through Ten’s thin black tunic is glimmering like a lit fire.

Ten grins wickedly and says, “It likes the sun.”

Yukhei chimes in then, spurring his own horse on to ride on Johnny’s other side. “The sun makes us more powerful, after all.”

“Do you have a mark as well, then?” Jaehyun asks from somewhere behind them.

Yukhei ducks his head bashfully. “It’s nothing as extravagant as the royal family’s, but yes, everyone of noble birth wears the mark of their clan.”

He rolls up a sleeve of the silky shirt he’s got on. It looks much more like the fashion Johnny’s seen in the Raven King’s realm, rather than the skintight body covering clothing from the Sky Kingdom.

Along his (admittedly impressive) bicep and down his arm, Yukhei has a serpent curling over his skin. It’s so true black, dark in a way Johnny has never seen in a real tattoo, and when the sun hits it, silvery scales reflect off the ink.

The head of the snake ends where his forearm meets the back of his palm, a forked tongue flickering over the tendons from his knuckles.

It’s a beautiful piece. Not as ornate or large as Ten’s, but every bit as beautiful in its simplicity.

“And you, Taeyong?” Doyoung asks, curiosity tilting his voice high. “Can we see yours?”

Taeyong, who had been riding in front of them, stiffens. “I don’t have one.” He says shortly.

Johnny wants to know more, but when he glances at Ten, the expression on his face is solemn. Instead, he turns to Jaehyun, who simply shakes his head once.

He lets the subject drop.

-

The first town they reach after emerging from the forest is a relatively small one. As they pass through, night begins to fall.

Johnny doesn’t notice anything off until Mark says softly, “There aren’t many people around, huh?”

Indeed, when he looks around, the streets are mostly deserted. Even the stalls promising food are closed by the time the sky washes orange at sunset.

The sole inn in the tiny town is old but well kept, the entrance hall dimly lit and cozy. Off to one side, there is a dining area for the patrons. On the other side is a parlor with a burning hearth. Near the fire is a man in a cloak, the hood pulled up to obscure his face.

After they’ve been shown to their rooms, Johnny decides to venture down to the parlor.

Johnny settles into a chair by the crackling fire, letting out a sigh of pleasure as warmth bleeds through his cloak. While the forest had been beautiful, after a day of riding through the wind and mist had made a deep chill set into his bones.

The seat beside him creaks, and when he opens his eyes to glance over, he finds Taeyong curling into the worn leather.

“Jaehyun and I switched for the night,” he explains, throwing a sharp grin Johnny’s way.

“Fun,” Johnny says dryly, pulling his cloak closer to him. “But Ten is either going to set Jaehyun on fire or swallow him whole by the end of the night.”

Taeyong laughs softly at that, pulling his slender fingers through his damp hair. “Jaehyun knows how to deal with whiny children,” he replies. “I should be more afraid of what to expect.”

“Am I that intimidating?” Johnny asks.

Across from them, Doyoung slips into another empty seat beside the stranger Johnny had noted earlier. “You aren’t intimidating,” the knight answers before Taeyong can say anything, “But you are very hard to read.”

“Am I?”

Doyoung raises an eyebrow at him.

Donghyuck laughs, sliding in next to Doyoung. “That’s funny, because I find him rather easy to read.”

“Well, it’s a shame we can’t all be such good judges of character.” Mark says dryly. He drops down on the thick rug between Taeyong and Johnny’s legs.

“It’s a shame some of us can actually have human emotions.” Donghyuck throws back, and Mark goes red all the way to the tips of his ears.

Suddenly, the man in the corner of the room shifts to his feet. “All of you,” he says quickly, “Be silent.”

Johnny glances at Taeyong, but he gets a confused stare right back.

The man shifts his footing, dropping into what Johnny can now identify as a defensive pose. There’s a scuffling noise from the front hall, and Johnny watches as the portly inn owner hastens to the window. She draws the curtains with shaking hands, her face ashen when she turns back to them.

Johnny is becoming more confused by the minute. The stranger’s footing shifts, his hand reaching to his side where Johnny assumes there is a sheathed sword.

“Why-“

“Please,” the innkeeper pleads with wide eyes, pressing a finger over her lips.

Johnny dutifully snaps his mouth shut. He glances warily at Doyoung, who’s attention is on the closed curtains. The innkeeper moves swiftly for her age, scurrying to each corner of the room to the dim burning lanterns. She begins putting them out as quickly as she can.

Johnny hears feet creaking on floorboards, and then Ten appears at the stairs, Jaehyun, Yuta, and Yukhei right behind him.

“What’s happening?” Ten asks, and Doyoung, the innkeeper, and the cloaked man all shush him at once. If not for the tension thickening the room, Johnny could have laughed.

“The lights,” Taeyong says lowly to Ten, and it hits Johnny the same time as Doyoung, who jumps up, eyes widening.

“Quickly!” the knight hisses.

Ten looks first at the stranger, then the innkeeper, who is still struggling to put out the lanterns, and then to Johnny.

He nods once and waves his hand.

Instantly, all of the flames lighting the room from the gas lamps to the hearth go out at once.

Without the fires, the entire world goes completely dark. Johnny feels a shiver of apprehension go through his body, strange and cold.

The dark is not comfortable like it had been back at the palace. This is suffocating and hopeless, clogging his windpipe and filling all his senses.

Instinctively, he reaches out to grab onto anything, anyone.

His hand hits something soft, and he exhales in relief. A bony hand finds his in the dark, and grips him tightly. It’s a familiar feeling. Taeyong is both clingy and easily scared in the other world, and Johnny is sure the other Ten and Jaehyun would both know him just from his hands as well.

A strange rumbling begins quietly somewhere in the distance. Johnny can just barely hear it at first, but then it grows steadily louder, closer, and something akin to fear grips his ribcage tight.

Taeyong’s hand tightens its grip on his. On his other side, a soft rustling startles him until another body presses to his other side.

It’s so pitch black, he can’t see anything, but somehow… he knows it’s Donghyuck. There should be no way to tell, but Johnny knows as easily as if he were looking directly at the priest that it’s him.

The rumbling gets closer and closer like the sound of blood rushing in his ears, and just when Johnny’s legs begin shaking, the thunderous crescendo reaches a peak.

He hears whatever it is pass dangerously close. Right outside the window, if his ears don’t betray him. Whatever it is, it passes for a long time, making the entire inn shake finely dawn to its foundation.

After the rumbling passes, it begins growing faint again. Soon, the sound begins to fade all together, like it was never there in the first place.

The eerie silence in the room is somehow even worse without the rumbling as they all stand in the dark, trying to understand what just happened.

Finally, the man in the cloak’s voice sounds softly, “The lights may be turned back on.”

A small clicking noise resonates in the silence as Ten snaps, and then all the lights turn on at once.

Ten’s face is pale, his lips trembling slightly. “What-“ he asks hoarsely, “Was _that_?”

It’s Doyoung’s grim voice that answers before the innkeeper can. “Shadow Riders.”

Johnny glances at Jaehyun, but he looks just as puzzled as Johnny feels. Ten blinks several times, looking at Johnny as if asking for an explanation.

The stranger cuts in. “They are said to be mythology. An old wives’ tale told by the huntsmen of this village. But earlier this year, they showed up without warning. Like specters, they haunt our streets at night.”

He reaches up and pulls the hood down.

The man’s face is younger than Johnny would have expected. The man must be around his own age, and his eyes are wide, his features soft. “I am Qian Kun,” he says solemnly.

One by one, their little party introduce themselves. Johnny gives his common name after Ten does so.

“What exactly _are_ Shadow Riders?” Jaehyun asks, taking a seat by the fire once again.

The remnants of panic still make Johnny startle a little when Ten’s arm brushes his. They’re all still pale-faced and jumpy, gathering close to the hearth in hopes that the warmth of the fire will chase the chill from their minds.

Donghyuck looks maybe the most shaken up of all, and Johnny remembers with a start that no matter how much he quips, the sun priest is still just a boy. His hands are still shaking where they’re clasped in his lap.

Johnny throws an arm around his shoulder without thinking, says quietly, “Let’s just sit down and sort ourselves out before we discuss this anymore.”

Donghyuck is still trembling, but he sits down obediently, no witty comeback on the tip of his tongue for once. One by one, they all find seats as close to the fire as possible. Ten waves a hand, and the hearth seems to burn warmer, the flames brightening.

Mark, where he’s curled up at Donghyuck’s feet, reaches a hand out and wraps it around his ankle. The sun priest holds his gaze for a second before looking away. If the glow on his cheeks is from the light of the fire or because of the young knight’s touch, Johnny can’t tell.

Kun finally answers, his voice grave. “They are users of dark magic who have been overwhelmed by their powers. They can barely be considered human, and consume anything they can find. It is said they dwell deep in the forest during the day, and come out to hunt at night.”

Doyoung, who has steadily been becoming more and more pallid since the encounter, speaks up. “Before I came to the capital,” he whispers, “When I lived in the outer villages, Shadow Riders were a common tale. We’d tell the younger kids stories about them to scare them into behaving. I never thought they could be real.”

“Neither did we,” Kun says shortly, “But as you can see…”

“Our town is falling apart because of the Riders.” The innkeeper finishes.

Johnny sits up a little straighter. “Does anyone know where in the forest the Riders can be found during the day? Surely, with our magic and combined effort, there must be something we can do.”

“Shadow Riders have been terrorizing this town for many moon cycles.” The innkeeper argues, “A number of our night guards have perished attempting to fight them off. I fear that if you go, you will not return either.”

Ten’s eyebrows draw together. He reaches forward, gathering the woman’s hands in his own. “Please,” he says, dipping his head to look her in the eyes, “Let us at least try to help.”

She shakes her head. “You are signing your own death sentence.”

“I would gladly die fighting, if the alternative is to sit back and do nothing while people suffer.”

“We will all go,” Johnny adds, “With our numbers and fighting skill, there must be a possibility.”

“I will go.” Kun says then. Johnny turns to him, surprise evident enough on his face that the cloaked man laughs. “I am not much of a warrior, but I’ve been told I have a gift for healing. Let me aid you in the only way I can.”

“I commend you for your bravery,” Ten says, bowing low, “We would be grateful to have you.”

One by one, the knights begin to turn in. The last to go is Ten, who leaves with Taeyong and Yuta in tow.

Finally, only Johnny and Kun are left sitting in the parlor.

Kun has been studying him on and off all night with curious eyes. Johnny knows what to expect, but when the words are said, he’s not sure how to answer.

 “You are the king, are you not?” Kun asks, dipping his head in a shallow bow.

Johnny bites his lip. Surely, he can trust the man after all that has occurred tonight. “Was it that easy to tell?”

Kun gives him a wry smile. “This is a small town, you know. Riding in on such fine horses with an entourage of armored men isn’t exactly normal.”

“Does that change your decision to come along with us?”

Kun raises an eyebrow. “Quite the contrary, actually. I have to admit, I’m curious to see what kind of skill and magic the kingdom’s greatest have to offer. It would be my honor to serve the Raven King.”

Johnny nods warily. “Thank you.” He says, and he hopes it sounds sincere.

“Tomorrow,” Kun promises, heading for one of the rooms on the ground floor.

“Tomorrow.” Johnny repeats, and begins to climb the stairwell to his shared room with Ten.

Ten is already in bed when he shuts the door behind him. There is a single lamp still lit by the bed, and in the dim light, Ten’s dark eyes are even more intense.

“One day and we’ve already gotten ourselves into trouble.” He laughs, but there is no humor in the sound.

“Trouble seems to chase me.” Johnny says tiredly, stripping down to only his underclothes before ducking under the covers. Ten makes a breathless noise when their bodies brush against each other, Johnny’s colder from not being under the blankets.

“I have to admit, I’m a little spooked after tonight.” Ten murmurs, reaching out to wrap his warm palms around Johnny’s hands.

Johnny hums in agreement, the warmth of Ten’s body already making him drowsy. “I guess we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings.”

Ten makes a soft noise, and releases Johnny’s hands to snap once. The lamp next to the bed goes out immediately.

The darkness is calming this time, like an embrace instead of the suffocating feeling the Shadow Riders had brought.

Johnny lets it wash over him like a heavy blanket and loses himself in the feeling.


	6. The Shadow Riders

When Johnny wakes up, it’s not to the hard inn mattress and fire-lit lamps. It’s to the shrill ringing of his phone on his nightstand, blaring some gross pop song Jaehyun and Taeyong had thought it would be hilarious to set as his ringtone.

He reaches out blindly for the phone, the room washed grey from the dull dawn light outside. When he manages to grab the device and cram it under his ear, pulling the blanket up above his head, he mumbles a sleepy, “hello?” into it.

“ _Don’t freak out,”_ Jaehyun’s voice comes through the speaker, utterly too awake for this early in the day.

“How are you even awake?” Johnny frowns, brows furrowing together in confusion.

“ _I haven’t slept yet_ ,” Jaehyun explains impatiently, “ _I’m still up from last night_.”

Right. Of course.

“ _Anyways_ ,” he continues, “ _This morning I got a text from my brother. He and his boyfriend are going to be in the city next week to scope out some colleges while they’re on break and they need somewhere to crash so I said I’d ask you if it’s cool for them to stay here for a couple days.”_

Johnny’s an early riser most mornings, but between different dimensions and classes and two jobs, not even he has enough willpower to process what that entails at five in the morning.

“Sure,” he says, already turning over to try and fall back asleep. “Tell them it’s fine.”

Then, before Jaehyun can say anything in response, he hangs up the phone and tosses it in the direction of his nightstand, not checking to see if it lands there or on the floor before he’s out again.

It’s not until he actually wakes up three hours later that he realizes that agreeing to the visit means Donghyuck and Mark will be staying with them for a few days.

Johnny’s met Donghyuck a handful of times now, mostly when Mark’s up to visit them and drags him along. But something about seeing the other version of the priest that seems to know more than him makes Johnny’s skin crawl now. Would Donghyuck know what is happening to him? Or will he be the same overly enthusiastic kid Johnny remembers?

When he tears himself away from the warmth of his bed and stumbles into the kitchen, unsurprisingly, it’s empty. Jaehyun’s probably passed out in his room.

Seated at their dining table, though, is Taeyong, working on something on his laptop. He looks up when Johnny passes by on his way to the fridge, offering a smile in greeting.

“Tell me you didn’t pull an all-nighter too?” Johnny pleads, grabbing the carton of eggs (and double checks the expiration date, because he doesn’t want to make _that_ mistake again). There’s already coffee in their Keurig, so he pours himself a mug.

“You think I can still do that in my old age?” Taeyong laughs, “Nah, it was just Jaehyun.”

“Speaking of Jaehyun,” Johnny says, starting up the stove, “Did he say what day Mark and his boyfriend coming?”

Taeyong screws up his face as he thinks. “I think he said Tuesday?” he says, taking a sip of the coffee in front of him. “Yeah, I put it in my calendar. It’s Tuesday to Saturday.”

Five whole days, then. Johnny can’t tell if he’d be more relieved if Donghyuck did know about what’s been happening to him or didn’t.

 After Johnny finishes making himself breakfast and puts on another round of coffee, he and Taeyong settle into the living room, putting on some cartoons until Taeyong has to get dressed for work. The laundromat he works at is farther from Jaehyun and Johnny’s apartment than it is from his and Ten’s, but he makes it out the door early enough that he’ll have time to make it for his shift.

For lack of anything else to do, he calls Ten.

The phone rings. And rings. And rings some more. Then it goes to voicemail.

He should have expected that. Ten’s been avoiding him like the plague lately- though, not for no reason. Johnny will admit his own faults. He hasn’t been honest with the Dragon Prince, nor with Ten in this world. And to cope with the guilt, he hasn’t been answering Ten’s requests to meet up.

It isn’t until the morning stretches to midday that Ten finally calls him back. Johnny has been idly sitting on the couch and doing homework all day, only half paying attention to the reality show he’d put on the television before beginning his work.

“Hello?” He answers absently, one hand still typing, trying to finish his last thought.

Ten says only, “ _I’m coming over tonight_ ,” and then hangs up.

-

Johnny gets back from his shift at the sandwich shop as the sun is beginning to set. Unfortunately, this happens to also be when Ten comes over, so Johnny is sweaty and tired and probably smells like deli meat when he gets off the elevator and finds Ten standing in front of their door.

“Hey,” he greets easily, sidling past the younger boy to unlock the front door.

Ten’s expression is undiscernible, and he doesn’t answer, silently following Johnny into the apartment.

The lights are all off and Jaehyun’s door is ajar, meaning they have the place to themselves. He can’t decide if it’s a good thing or not.

Ten is ghosting behind him like a shadow, dropping his backpack by Johnny’s door and settling on the bed when Johnny steps into his room.

“I need a shower,” Johnny says into the awkward silence between them, “Give me like five minutes?”

Ten nods once, a sharp movement that does nothing to ease the tension. He’s always had a flair for being dramatic, and Johnny knows by now that the best course of action is to wait it out and let him speak when he wants to, rather than trying to squeeze it out of him.

He showers as quickly as he can, nerves thrumming from the prospect of the conversation ahead of them.

By the time he’s clothed again, Ten is no longer in his room. Johnny wanders into the living room and finds him on the couch. Upon closer inspection, Johnny notices the joint in his hand.

It’s unlit, but the room already smells like weed. Johnny wrinkles his nose as Ten flicks on the lighter.

“You could have opened a window,” he says, passing by to get some water from the kitchen.

“Your neighbor’s on her balcony.” Ten says by way of explanation. “It’s either this, or I blow smoke into her face.”

Johnny grimaces. The little old lady from next door has a good impression of them so far, and he really doesn’t want to give her a reason to hate them.

Ten holds out the joint in silent offering when Johnny returns with a bottle of water.

He hesitates for a moment, unsure of whether he should partake or not. If Ten really is upset with him, being high won’t help to fix things. On the other hand, if he accepts the offer, it may help get him back into Ten’s good graces.

After another second of deliberation, he takes the smoldering joint and pulls it to his mouth.

They take turns passing it back and forth, both sinking into the couch and towards each other. Johnny likes the feeling of smoke warming his insides, leaving him slightly breathless and his eyes heavy.

Languidness creeps over his limbs as quickly as it does his mind, and Johnny lets his head fall back against the couch. The smoke dissipates above him in delicate gauzy patterns, and for a minute, he’s mesmerized.

When his mind has slowed down its frantic processes, a pleasant haze of just _feeling_ enveloping thought, Ten kisses him.

He tastes like smoke.

It’s just a soft brush of their mouths, no tongue, no fire simmering under their skin. It’s nice, sometimes, to slow down like this.

Johnny’s world is a blur of touch, taste, and when Ten hums, soft and sweet, of sound.

Ten perches halfway onto his lap, burying his face in Johnny’s neck. There are no kisses against frantic pulses, no hands sliding where they shouldn’t. This is hardly the most romantic thing they’ve done, but when Ten’s cheek presses fully against his throat, it feels, undoubtably, intimate and intense.

“I’m awful to you sometimes, aren’t I?” Ten breathes so quietly that Johnny would miss it if not for their proximity.

His mouth is so dry when he tries to speak. “No, you aren’t.”

Stubborn, certainly. Frustrating? To no end. But Ten has been brutally honest since the day they’d first met, making the rules clear. It’s Johnny fault for falling, and for caring too much to walk away.

Ten sighs, long and weighted. His voice is frail, exhausted when he speaks again.

“Do you ever feel like there’s… something missing from you?” Ten asks, finally drawing back. His eyes are dark, pupils swallowing his irises, dark lashes casting a spidery shadow over it.

Johnny’s heart thumps oddly at that.

“Sometimes I feel like there’s a big gaping hole in my chest,” Ten whispers, his hand clawing into a fist over his shirt, “That I was born broken.”

Johnny aches for- he doesn’t know for _what_ exactly his heart is yearning, but the feeling is so insistent in his chest, it makes his eyes well up with tears before he can help it.

“I don’t-“

“No,” Ten muses, the corner of his mouth twisting oddly, “Of course you don’t. You always know what you’re doing.”

Abruptly, Ten pulls away fully, sitting back against the couch. Johnny misses the warm weight of his body as soon as it’s gone.

“I’m sorry for being such an immense idiot to you all the time,” he says with that same strange expression, “You deserve better.”

“You’re not,” Johnny immediately replies, “Ten, stop- stop saying that, you’re not hurting me. I know what I’m doing, remember?”

Johnny wraps his hands around Ten’s bony wrists, his long fingers slipping easily over the younger boy’s skin, holding them loosely in his lap.

“Hey,” Johnny says softly, because Ten won’t look him in the eyes. Vulnerability is a shade Ten doesn’t wear often, and so Johnny treasures these soft, in-between moments even more.

Abruptly, Ten twists out of his loose grip. “I can’t-“ his voice breaks over the words, “I can’t do this right now.”

Every bit of sense in Johnny tells him to stop Ten from leaving, to make sure he’s okay, but then their eyes meet, and Ten’s are filled to the brim with tears, heavy on his eyelashes, pupils shining.

It takes all of his self-control to keep from following the younger boy out the door.

-

Johnny is still thinking about Ten’s words when he awakes in the other world to an empty bed, sunlight filtering through the thin inn curtains.

Something about his expression had sent a wave of unease and apprehension through Johnny’s body, striking him like an arrow to the chest.

The rawness of his voice had been striking- vulnerability is not a thing Ten expresses very freely, hiding it under layers of unwavering, self-absorbed confidence and bold claims. Johnny feels shaken up from the events of the night, unable to keep from dwelling on them.

He dresses automatically, now used to the way the foreign clothing fits over his body. He throws the magical, ever-shifting cloak over his shoulders, and it lands with a comfortable weight over his body. The riding boots are new and strange after the silken slippers he’d worn in the palace, but they feel secure and heavy in a way he likes.

It’s only when he wanders downstairs to the first floor of the inn does the weight of the task ahead of them take predominance at the forefront of his mind. Most of their companions are sat at a row of tables uniformly pushed together, and though there are some empty seats still, Johnny does a quick headcount and finds that only Donghyuck and Mark are missing.

The knights are oddly quiet, eating with the promise of battle hanging over their heads.

Johnny slips into the empty seat between Ten and Taeyong, helping himself to some of the bread in a basket on the table. “Where are Donghyuck and Mark?” he asks Taeyong.

“The priest is finishing his morning rituals and Mark is with him,” Doyoung answers in his stead, “I saw them outside when I was doing some training.”

From beside him Ten says, “I think this is the first time you slept in longer than me.”

Despite himself, Johnny winces a little. Ten’s voice is so similar to how it had been in the other world, scratchy from sleep, soft and musical.

He tries for a smile, but it’s shaky at best. “I guess last night’s events really spooked me.”

Ten nods like he understands, but the ‘last night’ he’s referring to is very different from the one the knights think he means.

Johnny turns his attention to the conversation at hand, then. The knights at the end of the table are listening to Kun, who has a cup of tea in one hand, using the other to emphasize as he speaks.

“The Riders dwell in the darkest part of the forest.” Kun says warily. “Some say they were practitioners of dark magic. It consumed them until they were barely human. Now they are flesh eaters, living off of the life force of others to fill their meagre existence.”

Doyoung, white-faced and shaky-voiced, adds softly, “In the outer villages of the kingdom, we were told a similar story. They were magic-users who tried to use magic too advance for them. Instead of them harnessing the energy, it took them over and drove them mad.”

“And now they are one with the shadows.” Kun finishes quietly.

Yuta raises an eyebrow. He takes a sip of his tea and sits back, arms crossing in front of his chest. “Sounds like the tales of superstitious farmers to me.”

Doyoung frowns deeply. “When you see them, you will understand. Their tales have been told for many years.”

“By said superstitious fools,” Yuta scoffs.

“You are the fool if you disregard the words of those who have seen them firsthand. You sit in the capital on a pile of gold and think you know everything of the world.” Doyoung’s voice is carefully controlled, but the anger behind his words is obvious.

Before Yuta can reply, Johnny cuts in. “We don’t know what is in the forest.” He says firmly. “So, neither of you can be correct until we go and see what’s going on. Arguing about it isn’t going to help anything, so be quiet and finish your breakfast.”

Appropriately chastised, they both look down at their meals, shrinking under Johnny’s glare.

Jaehyun, who is sitting across from him, has a piece of parchment open in front of him. “The forest is a little ways west from where we are meant to be going.” He frowns, looking up at Johnny.

He pushes the map forward, and Johnny takes a hold of it, turning it to face him. Their journey had been carefully outlined by Taeil, although Jaehyun had decided to serve as navigator. The mountain range which had been circled as their destination with no hesitance were on the far side of the continent.

The path had been straightforward enough when Taeil had explained it, but thinking about it, it’s a much more formidable journey. Once they’d get to the mountains, there had been no direction given. It would be up to them to find the specific place in the range that had been prophesied.

Johnny is eager to get to the countryside, where they’d have to abandon their horses in favor of other modes of transportation. They’d attract too much attention on their steeds, Jaehyun had explained. Beyond the forest laid the flat countryside, rich with rice paddies and bodies of water.

Back to the problem at hand, Johnny follows Jaehyun’s slender hands as he gestures to the path that had been outlined for them, and then the edge of the forest they had been planning on examining today.

“We can go this way and find the path again,” Ten cuts in, tracing a line with his finger. “It’s not so far that it will set us back by much.”

They keep talking alternate trails, so Johnny tunes into Yukhei and Kun’s conversation instead. They’re discussing the terrain ahead of them in the forest, as well as the dangers that lurk in it.

“I’ve heard a great many tales of the enchantments of the forest ahead of us,” Yukhei is saying, “Even the more, ah…strange ones. Is there any basis for them?”

“The forest holds a great amount of magic,” Kun says, his eyes far away. “There are creatures and beings in it that cannot be found anywhere else. That is why those in the surrounding towns call it the bewitched woods.”

“I’ve heard rumors of mysterious lights leading travelers astray, of magical beings who dwell deep in the heart of the forest, of water-gods who raise rivers to wash away encampments on a whim.”

“Such stories can be found in every rural area,” Yuta points out. “That doesn’t make them true.”

“And yet, it doesn’t make them fake, either.” Doyoung says breezily, sipping his tea.

Thankfully, before the two of them can begin their bantering again, Donghyuck and Mark walk through the door. Donghyuck is frowning deeply, and behind him, Mark looks troubled as well.

“What’s wrong?” Ten asks, immediately picking up on the mood.

“The horses are spooked.” Mark says, “They’re so skittish, nothing we did could make them calm down. I think they’ve been at it all night.”

“The Riders.” Doyoung interjects.

Even Yuta doesn’t have anything to say to that.

“Are they okay to ride?” Ten asks, directing his question to Mark.

The young knight nods, though it’s a bit hesitant. “It should be fine,” he says, “But we must be on guard. Anything that can scare our finest horses this much will be formidable.”

After breakfast, they do not delay in getting ready to depart.

The forest does not look particularly frightening in the morning light. The sun makes the leaves gleam like gems, and the morning mist makes the rays look so tangible, Johnny wants to reach out and feel the sunlight.

The thin woods eventually give way to thicker, more gnarled roots and foliage that blocks out the sun almost completely

Still, after a little over an hour of riding, passing the time with chatter and banter, they have yet to find anything.

“How deep in here could they possibly be, if they come out to terrorize the villagers every night?” Donghyuck whines when his patience begins wearing thin.

“They’re _magic_ ,” Mark frowns.

“So am I!”

“Both of you, be quiet.” Jaehyun interrupts all of a sudden. In front of Johnny, Taeyong also stiffens.

The horses come to a stop almost at once. When they try to press forward, they become skittish, rearing up.

“We must finish this on foot.” Kun says grimly, “It’s not much farther.”

When Johnny hops down from his horse, his boot crunches over something.

He looks down, already becoming filled with dread. Like every awful horror movie cliché, under his foot is a white bone. Johnny feels something turn over in his stomach.

“The nest should be that way,” Kun says, gesturing to the trees. “What is our plan of action?”

“We can split up,” Jaehyun decides, “Take the clearing from different directions to make sure they can’t escape.”

Naturally, Johnny ends up with Ten as the others divide themselves up.

Soon, the members of their group slip into the shadows one by one, until it’s just Johnny and Ten left in the shadows.

“Creepy,” Johnny comments, taking care of step around any fragments of bone left on the ground.

“Very,” Ten agrees. The way he walks looks like dancing, graceful and flowing with every step.

The silence is almost strange. They’re deep enough in the forest that they should be surrounded by the noises of the forest, animals and nature, but everything is silent and still.

Then, without warning, Ten cries out in pain. Johnny whirls to see him crumple to the ground.

An arrow whizzes through the air from inside the forest, so fast that Johnny doesn’t have time to avoid it. It grazes him, leaving a long stinging cut from his forearm to his knuckles.

The pain catches him off guard, makes him lose his grip on his sword.

A dark figure rears up in front of him, and fear lurches in Johnny’s throat. Behind him, his sword clangs as it hits the ground.

He instinctively raises his forearms to block the blow that’s sure to come again, but a noise cuts through the blood rushing in his ears.

“Johnny, stand back!” Ten yells, one hand reaching out towards him. Johnny instantly falls back, putting some distance between him and the Rider. Ten’s hand comes together in a fist and immediately, a wall of flames roars up in front of him, so bright that it hurts to look at.

The Shadow Rider screeches shrilly, withering back towards the shadowy forest. The figure is pitch black, a hood obscuring its face. The sound it makes is piercing and high, inhuman. Johnny’s heart is thundering in his chest, white hot adrenaline pounding through him.

“You saved me,” he realizes breathlessly.

Ten shakes his head. “It was nothing.” Another shriek erupts from deeper in the forest, and Ten’s head whips towards the source of the noise. “We must go,” he says urgently, loping into a thicket of trees.

Johnny grabs his sword and follows right behind him, hyper aware of the shadows the trees engulf then in, only weak strains of sunlight managing to struggle through the heavy foliage. No wonder the Shadow Riders had chosen this place to make their lair.

The near-disaster is still replaying in his head, a sick rewind, over and over, and he feels something rise up inside him, dark and angry at himself for being so useless.

His hand tightens on his sword, erratic breath quickening. There must be _something_ he can do-he’s been training with Jaehyun for weeks, working to train his muscles for this purpose.

Frustration makes his face warm, eyes stinging. The heat inside him is a strange amorphous, ever-expanding shape, spilling through his veins, warming his limbs, filling him until he thinks he’ll split at the seams.

And then, it’s like a layer of warm water has been forcibly dumped over his body. A strange calmness, bone deep, with an almost violent conviction. Johnny’s hand moves as if with a mind of its own, drawing his sword.

It’s like having an out-of-body experience. The sword in his grip is held so tight he can feel the grooves in the metal through his gloves, and it seems to throb in his palms like a heartbeat. An extension of himself. There’s something familiar about the weight of it in his hand, of the way the shadows of the forest seem to part around him to give him a path through. The power of the world is at his fingertips, undisturbed and ready to be used.

A surge of energy flows through him, warm and alive, crackling at his fingertips. And suddenly, it’s like everything is slowing down.

His wings _burst_ out of his skin like they’ve been trapped for too long, forehead throbbing oddly. And instinctively, he knows they’re the same curvy bone horns that sprout from Jaehyun’s temples when he’s at the full extent of his true form. He feels hyperaware of everything around him, the cloak around his shoulders seeming to shimmer, the darkness of the forest becoming as clear as day to his eyes.

Being high had been his senses dulling and blurring together, numbing him to the world. Whatever this is makes everything heightened, every little cricket’s chirp to the gentle sound of the morning breeze sounding in his ears as a distinct noise, every little movement of the forest tracked by his sharp eyes.

Like muscle memory, he moves with agile ease, losing himself in the sensation, letting his thoughts fade to the back of his mind as he feels and feels and _feels_.

His sword cuts a wide arc through the air, and, where there had been nothing a second before, is a Rider, cleaved cleanly in two by his blade. And then another, and another, all disintegrating under his obsidian blade. He’s everywhere and nowhere at once, and there is _always_ a Rider under his sword when he strikes.

He doesn’t understand exactly _how_ he’s doing it, and it isn’t until Jaehyun shouts his name, his own features inhuman, horns and wings on display, silvery eyes widened, that his senses come crashing back into him.

It’s like waking up from a bad dream. It’s abrupt, disappearing as quickly as it had come. Jaehyun reaches his side, cutting down all the shadowy figures in his way, and says breathlessly, “How did you _do_ that?”

Suddenly, Johnny feels fatigue weigh him down, limbs protesting when he lifts his sword again. “I don’t-“ he says breathlessly, “I have no idea.”

The feeling that had welled up so heavily in him is gone now, leaving him weak-limbed and exhausted. The wings on his back are extra weight now, so he wills them away. Then he takes notice of the others.

The fighting has ended, for the most part, with relative ease.

 Across the clearing, Doyoung wields a sword with expertise, fighting back the last of the Riders. A second before his longsword strikes his target, it falls away, a knife embedded in its chest.

Doyoung whirls around from his stolen target, fixing his glare on Yuta, who smirks, loping forward to collect the knife back.

A little further away, Mark is out of breath and nursing a scratch on his cheek, Yukhei cleaning the cut for him while Donghyuck watches on.

Johnny takes a second to make sure everyone is okay before he seeks out Ten. There are scorch marks burned into the grass, some parts of the clearing still smoldering. Johnny follows these trails until he finds Ten, Taeyong, and Kun, Taeyong saying something to Ten exasperatedly while Kun attempts to calm him down.

It’s not until Kun moves a little to the left and Johnny gets a look at Ten’s face.

The first thing Johnny sees is blood, and it makes his stomach lurch.

He’s off across the clearing without hesitation, striding up to them. Taeyong falls silent when he sees Johnny approaching, taking a step back, a frown still curved on his mouth.

 Ten looks relatively relaxed, his stance loose, his sword untouched in its sheath. However, the right side of his face is smeared with blood, the source of which Johnny confirms to be a nasty looking gash along his brow ridge.

“Are you alright?“

“I’m fine,” Ten says firmly, “Your arm, though. We need to take a look at that.”

He’d almost forgotten about his injured arm after the power that had overwhelmed him. As soon as he’s reminded, though, the pain seems to flare up again.

“Raven King,” Yukhei’s voice interrupts, “Perhaps you should come see this.”

Johnny turns to where he and Mark are sprawled in the grass. Mark has a hand over his cheek, gingerly feeling out the cut.

It doesn’t look particularly bad when Johnny approaches. It’s just a scratch, not bleeding much or appearing very deep.

However, Mark’s face is pale and ashen. “The blade was poisoned,” he explains.

Before Johnny can take a closer look, Jaehyun folds to the ground and takes his brother’s face in his hands.

Frantic eyes search Mark’s face, dragging down the wound. Jaehyun curses, pressing his fingers to Mark’s cheek. “We have to get him back to the village,” he says, turning to Johnny.

“No, I-“

“Shut _up_ ,” Jaehyun says tersely, squeezing the hand he has wrapped around Mark’s jaw. Johnny recognizes the edge under the forced calmness of his voice.

“I may be able to help,” a voice cuts in. Jaehyun’s eyes fly up to Kun, who stands before them, hands already reaching for his pack. “I am decently versed in healing magic.”

Jaehyun looks from Mark to Kun, then back to Mark. “I am in your debt,” he finally says shortly, “Please help my idiot brother the best you can.”

Kun takes Jaehyun’s place in front of Mark. He takes Mark’s face in his hands, much more gently than Jaehyun had. His eyes slip shut, lips moving so fast in silent syllables that at first, Johnny thinks they are quivering.

A soft, glowing light begins to emanate from his palms, and after a second, Mark’s eyes slip shut as well. Kun’s thumb moves over the cut, still spilling the light, and where his thumb brushes over, the skin begins to knit itself back together.

The process takes no more than a minute, but by the end of it, Kun is out of breath, paler than he had been just a minute ago.

Mark, on the other hand, has a rosy flush on his cheeks.

Finally, with a sigh, Kun pulls away, the light going out. “Better?” he asks earnestly.

A smile curves on Mark’s face. “Very much,” he replies.

Before he can say anything else, Jaehyun winds a hand back. Without any hesitation, he slaps the back of Mark’s head, hard.

Mark yelps in surprise and pain, teetering headfirst into the grass, and Donghyuck laughs so loud that it echoes around the clearing.

From there on, higher spirits descend upon them. As Johnny settles down to take care of the wound on his arm, he hears Yuta and Doyoung bickering about whose kill streak had been higher, Donghyuck softly goading them on. Jaehyun and Taeyong are taking care of an injury on Jaehyun’s side, their heads bent so closely together than Taeyong’s deep red hair seems to meld into Jaehyun’s warm brown.

He straightens when someone slips onto the ground in front of him. It’s Ten, the gash on his temple still bleeding freely down his forehead and cheek.

“Let me see that,” he says, gently taking Johnny’s injured hand in his own, pulling it towards himself. He takes the cloth from Johnny’s hand, using it to clean the wound on his forearm in a few precise methodical movements.

“You’re still bleeding,” Johnny frets. The blood had reached the peak of Ten’s cheekbone, continuing its descent down his face. What had he read about head wounds? That they bleed more than bodily ones, or less?

Ten grimaces. “I hope it doesn’t scar,” he says, trying for a smile. Seeing Johnny’s expression, though, he quickly adds, “I’m fine, don’t worry about it. It’s shallow.”

“If you’re sure,” Johnny says dubiously.

Ten gives him a little lopsided smile. “I’m not weak,” he argues, “You don’t need to treat me like I’m fragile. I get enough of that from Taeyong.”

“I don’t think you’re weak.” Johnny says immediately, because it’s true. Ten probably outranks all of them in terms of power, based solely on his handle on his magic. His precision matched with the literal firepower easily makes him one of their most formidable fighters. “I just don’t like seeing you hurt.”

Ten blinks. “Oh,” he says softly. Johnny thinks he sees the beginnings of a blush on his cheeks, but he quickly ducks his head, busying himself with wrapping up Johnny’s wound, obscuring his face from view.

They finish tending to their wounds in companionable silence, and when they’re finished, Johnny looks up to find Kun approaching.

“I have a request to make of you,” Kun says, dipping into a quick bow.

Ten replies automatically, “Please, go ahead.”

“Let me accompany you on this journey,” he says, “I can be of use to the injured. It would please me greatly to be able to help restore peace.”

“It would be our honor to accept you,” Ten says, also bowing his head in respect.

Kun gives them a grim smile. “I’m glad for it. The road ahead of us will be a long one. The mysteries of the forest go much deeper than the Riders.”

Ten’s answering smile is sharp. It is the smile of a warrior, fearless and carefree. “We will be ready.”

The forest looms over them, an oppressive dark presence, but Ten is so bright, flowing with so much conviction that Johnny believes him.

**Author's Note:**

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